The Geisha and The Samurai
by Moka nee-chan
Summary: What if you were caught at a crossroads? Stuck between two options that could determine the future of your country? What would you choose – love or war? "He wished there was more to this…that he could just give up and carry out a normal life. But if he did that, then the Daimyo would be overrun and the country would fall. Everybody's fate was in their hands."
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Well, this is my first multi-chapter fic! The Geisha and The Samurai is set in the early 1600's in Japan when the Edo Period was introduced. Yes, I have done my homework on the facts and it's vaguely explained in this chapter.

For the beginning half of this chapter, Sasuke and Naruto are four and Itachi is nine. After that, just add fourteen to their ages (".)

I hope you enjoy :)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own!

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The air was thick and suffocating. It was filled with the smell of burning houses, trees and flesh. Even though it was past midnight, the area seemed to light up in a burning orange and red from the dancing inferno.

"Naruto-kun run faster!"

The fire was hot on their heels. There was only so much ground a four year olds legs could cover, even if he was running at his fastest.

"I can't see where I'm going!"

A hand shot out from the thick smog and grabbed the little boy's hand, pulling him in the right direction.

It felt as if they had been running forever. Their lungs burned and legs ached.

More screams echoed somewhere far in the distance and slowly they began to fade until all that could be heard was the chirping of crickets in the forest they had run to and their harsh pants.

Uchiha Mikoto stared down at the three small boys and tried to smile. Two were her sons and the other was her best friend's son.

She slowly knelt down and embraced the children, not caring if they were still choking for air.

"Now listen here, these bandits won't stop until everyone is dead. Do not come near the compound; if you hear any voices nearby, be silent. Do not let them know you're here. Just please… stay here and be safe."

The oldest of the three boys froze in his mother's arms, realizing what she was saying.

The youngest Uchiha squirmed out of his mother's embrace and stared at her with wide eyes. "Kaa-san? Are you crying? We will be safe don't worry! You're with us!"

The blonde boy nodded and stared up at Mikoto who was still holding him.

"… Sasuke-kun… I have to go back. I can't leave your father or the clan. We are a family of samurai after all. We must fight…"

Sasuke's eyes widened and he launched forward, gripping onto his mother's shoulders. "NO! NO! You can't go back! You-"

"I have to Sasuke-kun." She gently tugged her son off herself and let the other two boys go. Slowly, she placed a kiss on each one of their foreheads and got up. "Itachi-kun, please keep these two here. I trust you, okay?" Mikoto's hands went to her waist to untie her katana.

Itachi hesitantly stared at the object. "Kaa-san I can't..."

Mikoto smiled and placed the katana in his hands. "You can. I trained you myself. Protect them."

Itachi bit his lip and gripped the sheathed object tightly before staring back up at his mother.

"You are a brave boy Itachi-kun. Make me proud." Mikoto then looked at all three boys and smiled," I love you all. Please be safe."

With a last glance, she stood up and began walking away.

Sasuke made a move to jump for his mother but Itachi held him in place. "KAA-SAN!" screamed the small dark haired boy and he thrashed around in his brothers grip.

"Sasuke shh! You heard what Kaa-san said!"

The small spiky haired boy reluctantly stopped screaming and watched as his mother's figure blurred into the smog.

Itachi let go off his brother and looked over at Naruto who was quiet.

"Naruto-kun?"

"How will Mikoto-san protect herself if she gave you her katana? And where is my Kaa-san and Tou-san?"

Itachi sulked and looked the other way.

Suddenly screams were heard not too far away and the oldest boy pulled the other two boys closer, attempting to cover their ears. Sasuke whimpered and hugged Naruto closer.

"…" Itachi shut his eyes and prayed that it would end soon and as it did, it sounded as if whoever was there was approaching them.

"Aniki-"Sasuke was cut short as Itachi covered his brother's mouth with his palm.

"Did you hear something?" came an unfamiliar voice.

Itachi, Sasuke and Naruto all froze as the voices got closer. Itachi let go of the four year olds and gripped the katana instead.

The footfalls sounded near and Itachi waited for that moment. He crept up behind a large tree and peered around it, only to see a single man walking towards them. He had dark hair that fell down to his waist and eyes that appeared to be red. He clutched a bloody katana and Itachi froze, realizing that was most probably his mother's blood.

A shriek was heard from behind him and the older boy whipped around only to see Naruto and Sasuke squirming in the grasp of some other man. He had short hair and one side of his face looked as if it had been crushed at a point in his life. A lone red eye stared Itachi down.

"With the new rules of the Daimyo, all samurai were either to turn in their blades or work for the Daimyo himself. We were just helping him in the former, except we did so by killing the most prestigious samurai clan," said the man as Sasuke attempted to bite him.

The crushed face man scowled at Sasuke and tossed him again a tree, smiling as the small dark haired boy passed out.

"We won't kill you," Itachi turned around to see the other man who was walking towards them stop and stare at Sasuke's unmoving body. "It would be a waste of energy to kill children."

Itachi snarled and gripped his mother's katana tightly.

"Calm down boy. Save your anger for another day." Crushed Face put Naruto down and gave him a look that made the poor blonde whimper and not move. He then walked towards Itachi and smiled. "Times are about to change. There will be more rebels and bandits in years to come. Maybe by then you'll be a fair fight," he lingered next to Itachi's ear and continued, "Madara and Tobi, don't forget them. We look forward to seeing you in the future."

Itachi's eyes widened as he felt a hand connect with a point in his neck and suddenly, everything went black.

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A lot had changed in fourteen years.

The morning after the massacre of the Uchiha clan, the three boys had woken up and hobbled back to the rubble and ash of the place they once grew up in. The ground was littered in bodies of the most powerful samurai and one could only imagine the power of their attackers.

It was that night that Itachi swore to find "Madara and Tobi" in order to avenge his clan.

He had given Sasuke their father's katana which lay next to his body and attempted his give the small blonde boy his own father's sword, but he had flat out refused. So Itachi carried Minato's weapon just in case.

Itachi had trained his little brother every day using his mother's methods. He knew it was terrible teaching a child barely the age of four to wield a weapon, but Sasuke had witnessed death and there was a strange fire burning in his eyes when Itachi asked him if he wanted to learn.

It was when Itachi was fifteen that Madara had started an uprising of sorts in order to overthrow the Daimyo. He had somehow gathered enough followers and rebels all over the land in order to do this.

It was also the time that Itachi and Sasuke started to kill any rebels that crossed their paths.

The bandits would do the usual - burn down homes, kill innocents and steal all items of worth.  
And Sasuke and Itachi would also do the usual – follow their tracks, question them about Madara and then eliminate them.

It was a sad and lonely life. The three would wake early, seek out any bandits and then slay them. It was an endless cycle that carried on the same for the next eight years.

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A twenty-three year old man with long raven hair sighed as he wiped his mothers' katana against the soil before slipping it back into its case.

It was just another assassination, another day and another empty lead.

"Ne, Itachi-san, hurry up! That's the longest you've ever taken to kill."

Itachi stared at the blonde man behind him and frowned.

"See! Even the sun has begun to set!" exclaimed Naruto as he waved his hands frantically at the blood red sky.

Itachi rolled his eyes and tied his hair back up as he pushed past the impatient blonde. "Killing bandits day after day gets quite boring you know."

"Yeah," Sasuke appeared from around a tree swinging a small sack of coins in his hands. "But it's worth it."

"Yeah well hurry up, our horses are gonna run off if you take even longer."

"Well if you helped us, we could do this in half the time."

Naruto huffed as he began walking away. "You know I don't want to wield a katana"

"Don't want to or can't?"

The blonde ignored Sasuke and smiled when he saw the three chocolate brown horses still tied up in the clearing he left them in. He immediately quickened his pace until he came face to face with his own horse and gently rubbed the side of its face. "I prefer taking care of these three than killing thanks. Anyway, any leads on Madara?"

Itachi shook his head. "Nothing new. Just the same - that he was here some while ago and that he set up a few more camps."

Sasuke sighed as he approached his horse and hoisted himself up. "Which we have halved since we entered this area"

Naruto nodded, untied the horses and hopped up onto his own. "By the way, there's a small building that I saw not too far from here. It's getting dark so it would be a good idea to find a place to rest."

Itachi hummed in agreement before getting on his horse. "Lead the way"

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"See! There's the building I told you about!"

Sasuke, Naruto and Itachi all pulled on their horse reins and stopped a little in front of a plain, large wooden building.

"You think there's anyone inside?" asked Sasuke as he jumped off his horse and dusted his white pants.

The other two followed suit and Naruto shrugged. "Well there wouldn't just be a building this size in the middle of nowhere."

The blonde ran forward and the smell of incense hit his nose. It was different from the metallic stench Sasuke and Itachi always had on them and he welcomed this new smell.

"Itachi-san… Sasuke-san… Can you smell that?"

Both the samurai had frozen in their tracks and closed their eyes. It had been a long time since they had smelled something so sweet… so foreign… so pure.

Itachi blinked slowly and followed the smell until he found himself staring at a plain shoji door on the side of the building. He looked over his shoulder to see Sasuke and Naruto standing there gazing at the door with interest. Slipping off his shoes, he slowly slid the door open and mentally gasped at the sight in front of him.

It reminded him of home.

It was an entrance room that led onto many others. It was a light red colour with a single low wooden table in the middle. On the table was the incense they smelled which was burning away. Around the table were four cream cushions and there were petals scattered on them. In each of the four corners there was a small cream vase which held cuttings of red Japanese peonies. There were three shoji doors which probably lead elsewhere but each door had a design of a tree in bloom with a few butterflies around its flowers.

The older Uchiha peered around the room hesitantly and almost jumped when Naruto screamed from behind him.

"Anyone home?!"

Sasuke quickly shot the blonde a glare and nudged him for his outburst.

Suddenly, footfalls and hushed whispers could be heard and the shoji door on the right slid open. A blonde, rather busty woman with hazel brown eyes appeared in an emerald green kimono and bowed deeply.

"Welcome! We are terribly sorry for the delay and lack of costume but we were not expecting any guests!"

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "What delay?"

The blonde woman straightened herself and smiled, looking at each of the men in the room. Her eyes landed on the katana's strapped at the Uchiha's waists. "Aah, gomenasai Samurai-sama. This is a house of geisha and I am the owner and sensei, Tsunade."

Naruto's face lit up at the word geisha and he clapped his hands together. He then turned to Itachi who was warily eying Tsunade. "Can we stay here? Please? We haven't relaxed in like… Well, we have never relaxed."

Itachi looked over to Sasuke whose eyes seemed to be gleaming as he kept peering through the newly opened shoji door.

Tsunade gave Itachi one of her smiles. "Tonight will be on the house seeing as none of my girls were ready."

Naruto's eyes widened and Itachi sighed. "Fine, but I will stay outside to… watch the horses."

Sasuke gave his brother a weird look and shrugged. "Suit yourself Aniki." He then looked at Tsunade and gave her a smirk. "Your girls offer entertainment and other… activities right?"

Tsunade nodded. "If you desire that Samurai-sama, then we shall gladly oblige"

Sasuke grinned as he heard more footfalls down the passage.

Itachi frowned and excused himself, exiting the geisha house and entering the dark forest. As he set his foot on the damp grass, Tsunade walked up behind him.

"If you change your mind, you can always come in"

Itachi turned around to face her and nodded. "Arigatou, but that won't be necessary." Turning around once again, Itachi set off towards the horses.

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The long haired Uchiha shivered from the cold as he ran a hand alongside the brown stallions face.

There was a slight glow from the geisha house and the warmth from within called him. However, he would not budge. His goal was to seek and destroy the monsters that had killed his family, not indulge in such… pleasures. Then again Naruto was right; they had never had a break.  
It was always running from one village to the next, looking for leads, camping in the cold forests, finding prey and finally slaying them. Then that would lead them on a false trail and the cycle would start again.

Itachi felt terribly lonely. He wished there was more to this…that he could just give up and carry out a normal life. But if he did that, then the Daimyo would be overrun and the country would fall.  
Everybody's fate was in their hands. Pleasure would be out of the question.

The older Uchiha's thoughts were brought to a halt when a strange yet familiar sound was heard from nearby.

Itachi lifted his head and listened closely. He closed his eyes and tried to block out the laughter and other noises he heard from the geisha house.

It was a shamisen!

Itachi's eyes widened and he quickly got up. When last had he heard a shamisen being played? Let alone someone play as well as this mystery musician?

His legs were about to lead him off but he looked over his shoulders at the three horses who were sitting, tied to a tree. They seemed to be giving him a weird look.

"Stay" was all he said before he began to follow the rhythm.

His legs took him around the geisha house, near the back where it appeared to be the girls' quarters. Pressing his back up against a tree, he listened. All the activities from the house could no longer be heard and Itachi sighed in satisfaction.

It reminded him of before. Itachi's mother used to play the shamisen but never like this.

This… was calming… It was almost unreal.  
How could someone produce such an amazing piece of music?

Curiosity piqued, Itachi glanced over his shoulder to see the magical person behind the shamisen.

And magical person she was.  
From the slight glow of the geisha house, Itachi could see a girl, no a woman, with long light pink hair that was curled against her side. She wore a plain white kimono with a red obi tied in the front. This woman leaned against a rock under a tree with her shamisen in her arms.

Itachi watched silently as the mythical creatures' left hand danced along the neck of the three-stringed instrument while her right strummed with the plectrum.

Her eyes were shut closed in concentration and Itachi wondered what jewels those eyelids enclosed.

Itachi faced forward again and slumped against the tree.

Her playing was exquisite, and reminded him of a lullaby. It was calling him home.

The older Uchiha's eyes felt heavy and he let the shamisen and its player take over. Within minutes, his body grew relaxed and he was asleep.

And the last thing he remembered was pink hair, green eyes and a warm feeling covering his shivering form.

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**A/N:** Next update will probably be next week, around Wednesday :)

Until next time!

-Moka


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own!

Enjoy!

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Itachi could hear mumbles.

He wasn't sure if he was awake or still sleeping but whatever he was, he felt extremely relaxed.

"Aniki, wake up"

Scowling, Itachi tried to ignore the sounds and attempted to roll over when a hand roughly shook him. His eyes shot open and his hands automatically went to his sides to grasp Mikoto and Minato's katana's… only to find them not there.

Itachi quickly rolled away from the hand and stared wide eyed at his surroundings.

Where was he? Where were his weapons? How could he have let his guard down?

"Aniki?"

Itachi blinked and let the memories of the previous night flood his head. He was guarding the horses when he'd heard the… shamisen!

The older Uchiha got up and looked over at the clearing where he had seen that pink haired woman, only to find it empty. Had he been dreaming?

Sasuke continued to stare at his brother. Itachi had never looked so confused before. "Aniki are you alright?"

Itachi slowly looked at Sasuke and his eyes widened. In his little brothers hands was a long, white piece of material. "Sasuke, what is that?" he asked, eyes never leaving the object.

Sasuke smirked at his brother and tossed it at Itachi. "I thought you could tell me. It's a kimono and it was draped over you when I got here."

The kimono landed in Itachi's lap and he stared at it as his cheeks flared up at a microscopic level. "I…" was he really speechless?

Sasuke laughed while he walked over to his puzzled looking brother and patted him on the shoulder before turning around. "Come on, Tsunade said we can stay for breakfast"

Itachi continued to stare at the material before shaking his head and getting up. Maybe the pink haired woman was inside and he could give it back to her.

Sasuke lead him through another side entrance and looked over his shoulder and Itachi who was clutching the kimono. "Are you okay?"

"… Yes. Why?"

"… Never mind"

Sasuke gave his brother one last weird look before sliding a shoji door that led into a courtyard with a small pond and garden inside. Naruto sat crossed legged near the pond and was staring at a toad with mild interest. As soon as Sasuke and Itachi's footfalls were heard, he turned around and the toad jumped into the water with a small splash.

"Morning Itachi-san! How are the horses?"

Sasuke scoffed and looked at Itachi. "Please, he was doing other stuff other than looking after the horses"

Itachi gaped at his brother and glared. "I didn't do anything like that! I-"

"Then why was there a kimono on you?"

The long haired Uchiha frowned and tried to remember. Had something actually happened? …All that came to mind was falling asleep and something warm covering him.  
Itachi froze. The pink haired woman took off her kimono and covered him with it?!

Naruto burst out laughing at the light pink blush that dusted Itachi's cheeks and grinned widely.

Itachi frowned and looked the other way.

Another shoji door slid open and Tsunade entered wearing a light blue kimono and holding a tray with three cups on it in her hands. She knelt down and placed the tray on the ground and bowed.

"Jasmine tea"

The two samurai and Naruto reached forward, took a cup each and thanked her.

"So, how was your night outside?" asked Tsunade with an amused look.

Itachi frowned and stared into his cup. His eyes then wavered and landed on the kimono next to him. "Do you have a pink haired woman here?" he asked softly, hoping his brother and Naruto wouldn't hear.

Tsunade grinned from where she knelt and looked at the kimono. "Hai, she's not currently here though. She left this morning with a few other girls to go to a place near Tanzaku Town to get a few things. I could give that to her if you want…?"

"… I'll come back tonight and do so."

Naruto looked over at Itachi and beamed. "We are coming back?"

Itachi slowly nodded and ignored Naruto's exclamations of joy and Sasuke's grin.

"Keep quiet before I change my mind."

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Naruto, Sasuke and Itachi had left the geisha house a while back on their horses and decided to patrol the area.

"Ever wonder why they set up that place in the middle of nowhere?" asked Naruto.

Sasuke shrugged and rode ahead. "I hear something"

The three got off their horses; Naruto tied them up and the Uchiha's sauntered up behind some thick foliage.

"- saw some pretty girls not too far away with those new coins the Daimyo introduced."

"Where were they heading off to?"

"They were speaking about rice farms near Tanzaku"

Itachi frowned and remembered that Tsunade had said the pink haired woman was near Tanzaku.

"- burn down the farms while we're at it?"

Sasuke nudged his brother and his hand slipped down to his father's katana. "There are only two and they're not that well-armed." His eyes landed on the single short sword that one of the two men held. "I'll be back."

Itachi nodded and watched as his brother snuck up behind the two and made quick work of the first before dodging the other man. Sasuke then bent low, swept at the man's feet and watched as he fell face first to the ground, his short sword falling out of his grasp.

Sasuke held the man's hands behind his back and placed his katana alongside his jaw. "Another one of Madara's are we?"

The man mumbled a yes and tried to squirm, only to feel Sasuke press the blade firmer against the column of his neck.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you… Now, make our lives easy. What do you know about Madara or Tobi's plans?"

"…"

The arm of the hand that gripped the man's wrist was lowered until Sasuke's elbow hovered over the man's socket in his arm. "If I apply enough pressure, I could force your arm out of this cavity. Now that wouldn't be nice, would it?" Sasuke lowered his elbow so it dug into the socket as if to emphasise.

The man whimpered. "I don't know any of his plans! The both of them just set up posts all over and we're to kill whoever we see and take their belongings!"

Sasuke frowned, having heard this many a time already. "But why?" he asked, trying to see if this one would bite.

"… They don't tell us," mumbled the man against the grass. "But I think they want us to cause enough havoc in order to lure the Daimyo's samurai out"

Itachi stared at the scene from behind the foliage. Lure the samurai out? But why?

Sasuke was about to ask another question when the man suddenly started squirming violently, causing him to press his neck fully into his blade.

The younger Uchiha got up and grimaced. "And just when I thought we'd found one who wanted to talk…"

Itachi stood up and walked towards his brother. "Do you think he may have been on to something?"

"Who knows? He could've just been making things up while trying to think of a way to either get away or kill himself."

Naruto walked towards them and frowned. "Well, at least we saved those farmers and the girls they were talking about."

Itachi nodded and Sasuke knelt next to the two bandits and began to rummage through their belongings.

"Anything useful?" asked Naruto as he peered down at Sasuke.

Sasuke shook his head and pulled off the small sack of money tied at each of the bandit's hips. He stood up and wiped his katana against the grass. "So Aniki, where are we going next? We've been patrolling from the time we left the geisha house."

Itachi frowned and stared up at the sky. It would be a while before it would begin to get dark, and it would be even longer before the pink haired woman would return.

"Want to visit Tanzaku Town?"

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Tanzaku Town was a community north of the geisha house. It was mainly a resting point for travellers. There were a few stalls here and there and had its own geisha house but Itachi could see it was nothing compared to Tsunade's.

His hand lingered to the kimono inside his side pouch at the thought and he smiled when it was still there.

"Ramen?"

Itachi looked up at Naruto to see the blonde staring at a small stall with a lantern hanging over it.

Naruto walked towards the stall and inhaled the aroma that wafted around it. He looked at the old man behind the stall with wide eyes. "What is this?"

The old man smiled, "It's something a friend of mine from China made me eat. It's a broth, with noodles, a type of meat and toppings sprinkled all over! I call it 'ramen'"

The blondes blue eyes sparkled at the thought and he grabbed a bowl from the man. "Show me, Ojiisan. Show me what this 'ramen' is."

Sasuke and Itachi stared at the blonde as his bowl was filled with a steaming spoonful and as he dove headfirst into it. Within half a minute, its contents were emptied and Naruto shot the bowl forward exclaiming for more.

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"Ooohhhh…"

"Baka, who asked you to eat so much," grumbled Sasuke as he looked over his shoulder at Naruto.

The blonde had spent just about half of one of the sacks of coins Sasuke had taken from the bandits on ramen and thus could not move. Itachi and Sasuke had hauled Naruto onto his horse and attached his rein to Sasuke's horse so it could pull him along.

Itachi rolled his eyes at the two and sighed happily when he saw the building of the geisha house not too far off. It was rather well disguised, there were no lanterns lit yet and he could not smell the incense in the air.

Growing near, and not waiting for his brother or Naruto, Itachi hopped off his horse and tied its rein to a tree. He ignored the calls for him to wait from behind and went around the building to the entrance.

Slipping off his shoes, he pushed the shoji doors open and went inside.

"Tsunade?" he called.

Footfalls could be heard and soon another shoji door opened and Tsunade walked in. "Aa, Samurai-sama you really did come back"

Itachi nodded quickly and looked around Tsunade.

Tsunade smiled at the older Uchiha. "Sakura came back not too long ago"

"Sakura?"

"The woman you asked for. She's dressing up now. They ran a bit late as there was some dead bandits on the path back… So one of my girls felt a bit sick…"

Itachi nodded. "We patrolled the area earlier. There were two bandits who were planning on attacking them and burning the rice paddies near Tanzaku."

Tsunade's eyes lit up. "You disposed of them?"

"Well my brother did, but yes"

The blonde bowed deeply, exposing a lot of cleavage, and smiled at Itachi. "Arigatou Samurai-sama!"

Itachi gave her a small smile. "If I may ask, why is this geisha house so hidden?"

Tsunade told Itachi to sit on one of the cushions around the centre table. "Well, if we were in a town, we would eventually be caught in one of the bandit raids. This area was free of them a while back, but looks like that's changed," she rolled her eyes and added. "Any travellers who pass here are welcome."

Itachi nodded and crossed his arms across his chest. "Have you ever had any bandits as customers?"

"Yes… and thankfully they didn't harm my girls as much as I thought they would"

"They have harmed your girls?"

The blonde looked down and nodded. "…Just a bit of rough handling. However, they treated Sakura pretty badly. That's why she doesn't perform anymore." Tsunade then eyed Itachi. "How did you get her kimono?"

Itachi eyed the centre of the table where there was an unlit incense stick. "Honestly? I'm not sure"

Tsunade was about to open her mouth when another shoji door opened and the pink haired woman, Sakura, stumbled into the room. She then looked over her shoulder and hissed a 'Pig!' at whoever was there. The blonde then cleared her throat and Sakura whipped around.

The pink haired woman gasped and bowed deeply. "Gomenasai!"

Itachi looked at Sakura with an amused smile. He then let his eyes wander over what she was wearing - a deep green kimono with a blue obi. The Uchiha then noticed the colour of her eyes – a shimmering emerald.

Sakura blushed as the samurai eyed her and looked over at Tsunade who glared at her, as if she was telling Sakura to hurry up. "Aah… Samurai-sama, I don't usually entertain anymore but you're probably wondering about my kimono…" she looked awkwardly at the long haired man who seemed to be eyeing her with interest. "…Would you like to come this way?"

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Sakura fidgeted as she led the long haired man to a back room. She slowly slid a shoji door open and gestured for him to enter. As soon as he did, she exhaled, followed him in and slid the door closed behind them.

This room was similar to the entrance room, except in one of the corners there was a futon and in another was her shamisen. On the opposite side of the room was another shoji door and that led to the courtyard.

"Samurai-sama, please sit," Sakura placed her hand in the small of the man's back and gently pushed the man forward. "Make yourself comfortable, there is no need for those weapons in here"

The long haired samurai untied both katana's and placed them alongside himself as he sat down on the cushions. Dark obsidian orbs eyed her with a slight gleam and Sakura shivered.

"Would you like anything to drink?" she asked softly without breaking eye contact.

"Do you have chamomile tea?"

He had a low baritone voice that sent shivers through Sakura's form yet again. "Aah… uhm yes! Yes we do!"

The pinkette flipped her hair over her shoulder and mentally cursed as she scurried over to the shoji door leading to the courtyard.

"I'll be right back!" she said quickly, and in a flash of pink and green, she was gone.

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Itachi had an amused look on his face as Sakura exited the room.

First, she seemed so bold by placing her small hand on his back and pushing him forward. He then gave her a look as if he was urging her to continue and she transformed into a blushing and stuttering girl.

Her blush was so bright he could see it over her white makeup.

This woman was certainly amusing.

The shoji door reopened and Sakura appeared with a tray in her hands with a single cup. The pinkette kneeled before Itachi and placed the cup on the table before looking up at him.

"Is there anything else you'd like?" she asked under long pink lashes.

"No, how about you take a seat opposite me?" he asked and he noticed her breath hitch.

"But we are taught to-"

"I want you to Sakura." He said with a stern look.

Sakura flushed and obeyed, hurrying over to the cushion opposite him. "How do you know my name?" she asked once she had sat down.

"Tsunade told me." Itachi then picked up his cup and sipped his tea, savouring the taste on his tongue. "So, do tell about your kimono."

The Uchiha reached into his side pouch and pulled out the neatly folded item. He held it out to the woman opposite him and Sakura hesitantly took it.

"I err… think you were having a nightmare. While I was playing, I heard something so I went to see what it was. You were slumped against a tree and you were mumbling something in your sleep. I think you were saying something about your mother? Anyway, you would shiver now and then and well… I took off my kimono… 'Cause you looked cold and stuff…"

By now, her cheeks were blaring through her makeup and Itachi smiled. "Arigatou, but why didn't you wake me up?"

Sakura looked down and bit her lip. "… I hadn't thought of that…"

Itachi chuckled at the pink haired woman. "It was the thought that counts"

Sakura looked up and smiled. Her eyes wavered over Itachi's cup and Itachi saw a spark of fear cross her eyes. "So uhm… what do you want to do now?"

Itachi eyed her. Was she afraid?

Sakura looked straight at the futon and then back at Itachi. "Do you want to…?"

The Uchiha's eyes widened. "No…! Talking is just fine"

Itachi noticed relief flash across her eyes and Tsunade's words from earlier floated around in his head.

'…_However, they treated Sakura pretty badly. That's why she doesn't perform anymore…' _

Just what had happened?

Itachi shook his head, it was probably personal. The pinkette was looking rather fragile and nervous... Itachi's eyes went to the object in the other corner of the room and he smiled.

"Sakura, I would like one thing though"

"Oh?"

"Play your shamisen for me."

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**A/N:** And so the actual plot was introduced :D

A big thank you to those who reviewed, alerted and favourited! It really means a lot :)

The next update will probably be… this weekend? ^_^'

Until next time,  
-Moka


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own!

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Itachi awoke with a smile on his face. This was the second day in a row that he woke up feeling rather relaxed.

Stretching, he glanced around the room he was in. Itachi lay on the futon and faced the shoji doors where there were gentle rays of sunlight peered through.

Mumbling to himself, he slowly got up and noticed he was alone.

Last night, Sakura had smiled when he asked her to play her shamisen and she had gladly obliged. Itachi was happy, she was no longer afraid. Instead, she had that bold look on her face again as she sat down and let her fingers dance over the three strings of her instrument.  
After that, Itachi had thanked her and they had idly spoken about that day. Sakura had brought up the story of the dead bandits on the path and how her friend, Hinata, had fainted seeing the scene. Itachi had grinned and had told her that that was his brother's work so Hinata can blame him.

Sakura had left him a while later saying that she didn't mind if he slept there. She had given Itachi another cup of chamomile tea and then returned to her quarters. Shortly afterwards, Itachi had dozed off to sleep.

The long haired Uchiha walked over to the door leading to the courtyard and slid it open. Naruto sat on the dew covered grass and stared into the pond.

"Naruto-san?"

The blonde looked up and smiled. "Ohayo Itachi-san! You're up early"

Itachi shrugged and slid the door closed behind him. "So are you"

Naruto grinned sheepishly and ran a hand through his messy blonde locks. "Well this little fellow in here seems to like waking me up." He pointed into the pond and a little toad appeared at the surface. It croaked once before slipping under the water again.

Itachi hummed at the scene and looked around. "Where can I freshen up…?"

"Aah, follow me."

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"You're leaving so soon?" asked Sakura with a pout. Said pinkette and Tsunade were standing at the entrance to the geisha house and watched as the two samurai and Naruto did a final check on their belongings.

Itachi gave her an amused look and nodded. "Gomenasai Sakura-san, but we need to go pay the Daimyo a visit."

Sakura's eyes gleamed. "Oh? Whatever for?"

The older Uchiha secured his katana's on either hip and gave her a look. "That's classified"

The pinkette pouted again and walked over to Itachi. "If I may ask, if you two are samurai, why don't you wear the usual armour?"

"It's too heavy, plus bandits would be able to hear us from a mile away," answered Sasuke as he hopped up onto his horse.

Itachi nodded. "That's why we wear this," he pointed to the dark hakama and white haori he wore. "Although, Naruto did a bit of looking around and came up with the idea of making us an undershirt which is made of a single layer of metal plating."

Sakura smiled at Naruto. "It's no wonder Hinata-chan likes you! You're so clever!"

Sasuke scoffed at this and watched as Naruto's cheeks flooded red. "Please, he's a dobe"

Naruto frowned and glared at Sasuke. "Teme…"

"…Anyway, we need to get going," said Itachi with a smirk before they could start arguing. He smiled at Sakura and reached for a sack of coins in his side pouch. He gently placed it in her hands. "Thank you for last night, your playing is exquisite"

Sakura only had a light layer of makeup on and that blush flared right through. "It's only a pleasure Samurai-sama!"

Itachi gave her one last smile before getting on to his horse and heading off.

"Hey Itachi-san?" asked Naruto as they were a good distance from the geisha house.

"Hmm?"

"Why don't you tell Sakura-chan your name?"

"It makes things more amusing... Plus it's an excuse to go back"

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The country was large and was divided into different areas – Fire, Rain, Wind, Lightning and Stone. The Daimyo resided deep within Fire territory which was the area that the Uchiha's and Naruto were in.

It had been about a day that they had been travelling and for once, Itachi had included breaks.

Naruto and Sasuke had shared a look of shock when the oldest had suggested this but had shrugged. They weren't going to complain.

Itachi had ridden off to find a water supply and left Naruto and Sasuke behind in a clearing. There seemed to be nothing close by so the older Uchiha covered a bit more ground until a familiar scent hit his nose.

And it wasn't one he wanted to smell.

Looking up to the sky, Itachi saw a thick black cloud forming not too far from where he was. He pulled on his horse rein and contemplated about going back to get Sasuke… but whatever was burning was so close! There could be people hurt! Plus, Madara or Tobi could be there…

Mind made up, Itachi rode on forward.

Trees blurred by and soon a burning village could be seen. Thick clouds of black billowed out of houses and filled the streets. Flames licked the splintering wood and spread to the foliage nearby. Screams filled the air and Itachi shut his eyes.

This looked all too familiar.

With a growl, he made sure he was a good distance away from the fire and tied his horse up. Itachi ran towards the burning mass and drew Mikoto's katana as a man ran out with a wide grin on his face. The man had a bag or two in his hands that were filled with valuables. Behind him were two other men who were laughing and carrying goods as well. But what caught Itachi's eye, was the samurai helmet in one of their hands.

"The plan worked!" exclaimed one of the three as he secured a bag around his waist.

The man with the helmet grinned. "I can't believe they actually came! Madara's plan is actually working!"

That was all Itachi needed to hear, he drew Minato's blade as well and ran towards the three. Not pausing in his stride, Itachi ran forward and sliced in an 'X' at the first bandit and heard him collapse shortly behind him.

The long haired Uchiha sneered as the other two halted and stared wide eyed at him. The one made a wild dash to the side but Itachi had not stopped running, charged at him head on and had easily disposed of him.

Slowly, Itachi turned around and saw the bandit with the helmet staring at him. His eyes narrowed and he stalked towards the man who seemed to have lost the ability to move. The long haired Uchiha extended Mikoto's katana so it was placed against the man's jugular.

"Where did you get that," sneered Itachi as he glared at the man.

A building behind them collapsed in a swirl of black smoke and the man began to cough.

"Speak!"

"There were several samurai of the Daimyo!" said the man quickly. "If we caused a big scene, they were bound to show up! If the samurai are eliminated there's no one else to protect the Daimyo!"

Itachi stared at the man and remembered what the bandit Sasuke had encountered two days before had said.  
_'But I think they want us to cause enough havoc in order to lure the Daimyo's samurai out'_

Hissing, Itachi finished off the bandit and ran towards the flames in search of any samurai who might still be alive.

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"Aniki's been gone for far too long"

Naruto stared at Sasuke. "Time to go?"

Sasuke nodded, quickly got onto his horse and urged it forward. As they covered a bit of ground, the air began to get thick and smoggy. Sasuke inhaled and started to cough.

"Shit! Naruto he must've gone by himself!" exclaimed Sasuke as he saw Itachi's horse tied to a tree.

Naruto frowned and went to go get it. "I'll take the horses to a safer spot."

Sasuke nodded and ran through the foliage and towards the inferno. It seemed the bandits had targeted a small community and he stared at the three bandits lying on the ground. The younger Uchiha frowned. Where was Itachi?

He ran forward and heard coughing.

"ANIKI?!"

Sasuke ran into a burning house from where he heard the coughing and froze when he saw his brother trying to pull a man out of the building. He quickly ran up to them and helped Itachi.

As they got out the doorway collapsed and the building was consumed by flames.

"The hell Aniki?!" screamed Sasuke as they tried to drag the man away from the burning town.

Itachi merely coughed in reply.

As soon as they were safe, Sasuke and Itachi let the man go and all three of them collapsed to the forest floor.

The younger Uchiha looked at Itachi. "Why did you go in by yourself?"

Itachi panted for air and stared down at his burnt haori. "They're after the samurai…"

Sasuke frowned and looked at the man that they had brought and checked for his pulse. It was slow, but it wasn't going to give up anytime soon. "So who is this…?"

Itachi coughed and stared at the man. "One of the Daimyo's samurai. He's the only one who survived this raid. He fell unconscious not too long ago"

Sasuke stared at the man and his strange silver hair. "So you think they're after the samurai?"

Itachi nodded. "I don't think that, I know it. One of the bandits told me. If there are no samurai, the Daimyo will have no one to protect him. He focused too much on economy… and there was only a handful of samurai that joined him. Madara and Tobi are exploiting this weakness"

The younger Uchiha hissed and stared into the distance which was illuminated in an orange. "Well it's a good thing we don't work for the Daimyo then"

Itachi hummed in response. "I was planning on telling him what that bandit told you days ago. Now my facts are certain. We need to leave as soon as possible."

Sasuke looked down at the silver haired samurai. "What about him?"

"Well he needs to come too. He needs to protect the Daimyo"

Footsteps were heard and the Uchiha's looked up to see Naruto standing there and panting. "Guys! I found water!"

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Naruto sighed as he stared at the reflection of the moon in the small body of water he had located.

The Uchiha's and the unknown samurai were asleep and he was put on watch for the night.

'I mean what can I do…?' he mused to himself. 'I can't even wield a weapon and I'm tasked to guard three samurai'

Naruto was from the Namikaze clan. They were not like the Uchiha's; they were not born wielding weapons.

His father was next in line to become the Daimyo but someone had rigged the election and the current Daimyo was put into power. Minato was a wise man, his brain was his weapon. He wanted to fight for the country in a different way. Sure, he could wield a katana but that was only to protect his family.

The blonde stared over at his father's katana which lay next to Itachi and he sighed. He slowly got up and crept over to it. Naruto picked up the sheathed weapon and walked away from the sleeping samurai.

It felt heavy in his grip. Naruto sighed and slowly pulled it out from its sheath and stared as it shone in the moonlight.

"Can you use that?"

Naruto jumped at the voice and turned around, gripping the katana.

The silver haired samurai stood there looking at him with a smile. "Sorry about that," the samurai was wearing a mask that only exposed one eye and that lone eye crinkled. "I'm Kakashi"

The blonde exhaled and nodded. "Naruto"

"Well Naruto, can you use that?"

Naruto looked down and frowned. "No…"

Kakashi's lone eye crinkled again and he walked over to Naruto and unsheathed his own katana. "You look like a man I used to know. So Naruto, let me show you how to fight."

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It had taken a day and a half until they had reached the Capital.

This was the main area where the Daimyo resided. It was a big community that was different from the other villages and communities - the Capital radiated life. People filled the streets with large smiles on their faces, as if they were not afraid of bandit raids. They seemed happy and carefree.

Naruto walked towards the back of their group and eyed his father's katana from Itachi's hip. The Uchiha's did not know of Kakashi's little lesson the other night. It was a secret only the silver haired samurai and himself would know.

"So, what's your plans now Kakashi-san?" asked Itachi as they approached the Daimyo's Tower.

"I'll come in with you and give my side of the story as well. That man can be quite annoying…" he muttered softly as they passed the guards on duty. "Afterwards I'm probably going to have to protect the man with my life"

Itachi nodded at the older man and began to ascend up a flight of stairs.

"I'm going to wait here…" said Naruto.

Itachi turned around and nodded in understanding. Naruto didn't quite like the Daimyo, after all the man did steal his fathers' title.

There were guards outside the shoji door and eyed Itachi, Sasuke and Kakashi.

"May we help you?" asked the one.

"We need to see the Daimyo," said Kakashi. "I'm one of his Samurai"

The guards eyed Kakashi and the silver haired man flashed them a tattoo on his arm. The guards nodded and looked at the Uchiha. "And them?"

"They're with me," said Kakashi with a slight glare. "It's urgent"

The guards reluctantly let them in and Itachi sighed. He had been here last when he was eighteen. The Daimyo had somehow heard about them and wanted Sasuke and himself to join his ranks. Itachi had flat out refused saying that they had a goal of their own to fulfil and once it was done, they would give up their swords.

Needless to say the Daimyo was not pleased.

As the shoji door was slid open, a rather big sized man in a royal blue kimono was revealed. The man was staring at a scroll on his desk while sipping on something that looked a lot like sake.

"Daimyo-sama," said Kakashi with a bow. The silver haired man then looked at Itachi and Sasuke and expected them to do the same but they just stared at the Daimyo.

The Daimyo slowly lifted his head and showed slightly crooked teeth as he grinned. "Well, what do we have here?" he eyed the Uchiha's.

Itachi raised an eyebrow at the Daimyo.

"What do I owe the surprise of being graced with your presence Itachi?" asked the Daimyo with a smirk. "Finally changed your mind?"

"Like I'd want to work for you," sneered Itachi. "I actually came here to warn you of something."

"Warn me?"

The long haired Uchiha stared at the scroll on the Daimyo's desk. "Have you noticed a drop in the number of your samurai as of late?"

The Daimyo looked at the scroll as well. "I've been busy with more important matters, like this." He waved the scroll in the air. "This is a trade agreement between Japan and a land known as India." The Daimyo placed the scroll back down and entwined his fingers on his desk. "This little scroll here will bring quite a bit of wealth to Japan."

Itachi frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. "Do you even care about anything but that? Like what's going on in your own land?"

The Daimyo gave Itachi a smirk. "Money rules the world Itachi. Anyway I'm sure everything is running perfectly fine. After all I've boosted the people's standard of living by bringing in money and trade."

Kakashi stared at the man. "Daimyo-sama, of the one hundred samurai that you control, over thirty were killed within the last month. Bandit numbers have escalated in the past few years and they're targeting areas with this new wealth that you've brought to them. Four of these new large trading villages were burned down. If anything, you've degraded their standard of living"

Itachi nodded. "There are only so many bandits my brother and I can eliminate. And with recent information, I have learned that Madara and Tobi are also targeting the samurai" he paused to look at the Daimyo who still had that smirk on his face. "If there are no samurai, there will be no one to protect you and thus Madara and Tobi will pay you a little visit and take your title."

The Daimyo lifted his hand and waved Itachi off. "Please Itachi, they can try"

Sasuke twitched from alongside his brother and chose to stare down at the ground.

"Oh, but they are trying. Did you not hear what Kakashi just said?" sneered Itachi

"What are four villages? There are many more out there you know"

Kakashi's lone eye began to twitch. "The four were of the larger ones. We lost count of the other smaller villages. Point is that there are innocent people losing their lives!"

The long haired Uchiha closed his eyes. "Look, just put your economics on hold-"

The Daimyo suddenly stood up and slammed his hands on his desk. "Put it on hold?! Who do you think you are-"

"If you let me finish," hissed Itachi. "Put it on hold for a short time. Madara and Tobi know that you focus more on wealth and trading and not enough on the military so they are exploiting this weakness. All we are asking is that perhaps reintroduce samurai. Or even stop sending the remaining samurai out to the villages while they're under attack. Rather have them patrol like us, so they can kill any bandits they come across before they burn down villages and become a problem. Like Kakashi has said, the numbers of samurai are dropping rapidly and soon there will be none left."

"Itachi," the Daimyo let out a guttural laugh and sipped his sake. "I'm not sure if you've noticed but you're not the Daimyo, I am." He put down his sake and crossed his arms over his chest while sneering at the long haired Uchiha. "I make the rules, okay? I don't like it when people I despise just barge in here and tell me what to do." He paused, picked up his drink and finished it off. "Anyway, no one else has come to complain to me before. You three are probably just over exaggerating"

Sasuke looked over at his brother and swore that Itachi's eyes flashed red.

"Look here you-" Itachi stopped and exhaled sharply. "I am only trying to help. If you're too thick to understand, then do tell Madara and Tobi when they come to visit you, that I send my regards."

And with that, Itachi turned around, drew one of his katana's, slashed through the shoji door and left.

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**A/N:** Hope you enjoyed this chappie!

Thank you all for reading and to everyone who reviewed, alerted or favourited! Your support makes me write faster :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own!

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"Sakuuura-chan, stop moping! It's only been like, three days!"

Haruno Sakura buried her face into her futon. "Actually Ino-chan, it's been a week"

That was how long it had been since Sasuke, Naruto and the long haired samurai had left the geisha house and Sakura was rather disappointed that they hadn't returned.

Ino sighed and walked over to her best friend. "Relax. He's only a customer"

The pinkette rolled over and stared at the blonde. Ino was right, he was only a customer. But the blonde had also said it was time to forget about the past. After all, she was a geisha, this was her job.

"But Ino-chaaan… He's actually really nice!"

"Did you even ask what his name was?"

Sakura shut her eyes. Usually that would be the first thing she would do. Instead, the first thing she had done for Sasuke's brother was take her kimono off for him.

Groaning, the pinkette turned around and buried her face into her futon again. "… No"

Ino rolled her eyes and sat next to her best friend. "He looks like a… Takeshi," she said with a distant look in her eyes.

Sakura gave her friend a look. "'Warrior'? Please, just because he's a samurai, it doesn't mean his name has to be all fierce and stuff"

Ino winked at her. "It would be hotter. I mean imagine if his name was like a flower or a fluffy forest animal"

Sakura giggled. "You're right, that would be a bit weird. Takeshi it is then!"

Ino smiled and got up. She ran her hands over her plain blue kimono and yawned. "Anyway, I came here to tell you that Tsunade-sama was calling a meeting or something."

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There were five girls in total at the geisha house – Hinata, Ino, Anko, Karin and Sakura. There were seven but TenTen and Kurenai had been whisked off by the customers they had fallen in love with.

All five girls sat in the courtyard of the geisha house and watched as Tsunade paced up and down. "Well, I have a bit of a warning. Jiraiya came around earlier today and informed me that there has been a bit of an outbreak going around the neighbouring villages."

"What kind of outbreak?" asked Anko from alongside the pond.

"It's nothing we've seen before… So far only five people have been infected and they have all fallen unconscious. The healer in Tanzaku is monitoring two of them as the others have died."

Sakura frowned and looked at the ground. "Did Jiraiya-sama give you any more information?"

Tsunade shook her head. "The healer says as soon as they woke up one morning, the three were no longer alive"

The pinkette looked into the pond and bit her lip. Her father was a healer before he had been taken out in a bandit raid. He had taught her most of his work as he wanted Sakura to follow in his footsteps. "Tsunade-sama, I would like to go help the healer."

The blonde looked at Sakura and sighed. "Sakura, you haven't practised your fathers' work since you were fourteen! That was five years ago! It's too dangerous anyway, you could become infected too." She crossed her arms over her chest and stared the pinkette down.

"I'll never forget what my father taught me Tsunade-sama. It's my duty as a healer to help those in need"

"You're a geisha Sakura, not a healer."

Sakura frowned. "Well we haven't been busy in a while. Our last customers left a week ago and any way, you have four other girls"

"…" Tsunade shut her eyes. "Look, I'm giving you two weeks to try and help. If you're not back by then, I'm sending Jiraiya to haul your ass back here," she gave Sakura a miniscule smirk. "Now go get me some sake before I change my mind!"

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"Are you really going to go to Tanzaku?" asked Ino as she watched Sakura pace around her room in search of her fathers' notes.

The pinkette threw a scroll at the blondes face and mumbled an apology before diving headfirst into the pile of scrolls on her floor. "Yes Ino-chan, I am." She reappeared from the pile holding two scrolls and smiled. "You said I was moping, so this is going to distract me for a while"

Ino sighed and opened one of the scrolls. It was on herbs and plants needed for different poisons and their antidotes. "Hey, Sakura-chan I think you should take this one."

Sakura scurried over to Ino and glanced at the scroll before nodding and adding it to her pile of items to take. "I doubt I'll need it though. Most of the plants that those poisons are made from are from Wind, yet the antidotes are made from plants found around here… Anyway, I'm guessing whatever this is, is airborne"

The blonde shrugged. "You never know Sakura-chan. You're dealing with lives her so you can never be too careful"

The pinkette stopped whatever she was doing, turned around and smiled at her best friend. That was the first thing her father had told her when he had begun his lessons. "You know, you would be a pretty good healer"

"I know Sakura-chan, I know. I'm all rounded like that. I'm good at everything." Ino winked and then walked over to Sakura's clothes. "Let me help you pack, I'm good at that too"

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Sakura hesitantly stuck her head into the healers' house in Tanzaku Town.

"Hello?" she asked softly as she took a step inside.

"In here!" came a reply from within.

The pinkette followed the voice and slid a shoji door open to see a woman a little older than herself with short black hair leaning over a rather pale looking man.

"Shizune-san?" she asked softly. "I'm Haruno Sakura"

"Ohayo Sakura-chan," Shizune got up and nodded at the pinkette. "How may I help?"

"Well, I should be asking you that. My father was a healer before he died in a raid. He taught me his work and I am here to offer my services in any way that I can."

Shizune smiled. "Arigatou, but I'm afraid to say that not even I know what the cause of this is." The short haired woman gestured to the pale man and sighed. "They come in usually with fevers. Then within a day or so, they fall unconscious. Some break out into rashes while the others break out into fits." Shizune frowned and looked at Sakura. "Within five days, they're no longer with us"

"Where did the victims come from? Were they from a common area?" The pinkette set her small travelling sack down and began to look through it.

Shizune shrugged. "They were travellers, maybe merchants. However, when they were brought here, their goods seemed to be untouched. One was a samurai of the Daimyo. He unfortunately passed on yesterday"

Sakura frowned and looked at the man on the bed. "So he's the last?"

"Two others got brought in earlier today. One is still conscious if you wish to go examine him…?"

The pinkette nodded and pulled out a scroll. "Lead the way Shizune-san"

Sakura was taken down the passage of Shizune's home and into another room where mumbling was heard from inside.

"Sakura-chan, his name is Konohamaru. He's fourteen. So far, he's had a terrible fever and a rash. Everything that I've tried isn't working…" mumbled Shizune as she slid the shoji door open.

"Shizune-nee… Have you found a cure yet?" came his voice, which was barely a whisper.

Sakura frowned at the sight before her. A young boy lay on a futon with his covers tossed to the side and a clear gleam of sweat covered his wiry form. His brown hair was stuck to his neck and forehead and Sakura saw the red markings of a rash gathering around a point on his clavicle.

"Ohayo Konohamaru-kun, I'm Sakura. I'll be looking after you and I promise, you will be walking out of here very soon," Sakura smiled at the boy and walked towards him.

If Konohamaru wasn't covered in red blotches and sweat, Sakura would've guessed he would've been blushing since his eyes widened and he scrambled to try and hide his only hakama clad form.

"Aah, don't cover up! I need to examine you!"

The young boy pouted and watched as Sakura knelt down to his futon. He noticed her eyes focus on a point on his collarbone and he shifted uncomfortably.

Sakura looked over her shoulder at Shizune who seemed to be watching her closely. "Shizune-san, was this mark here before?"

Shizune walked over to the futon and stared at the point that the rash accumulated around. The skin of that area seemed to range from red to purple and almost black. There was a tiny scar right in the middle.

"… No"

The pinkette bit her lip and frowned. "Could you go check on the other casualties and see if they have the same mark?"

Shizune nodded and left the room.

"Are you also a healer Sakura-chan?"

Sakura looked down at the boy who seemed to be eying her with interest. "My father was a healer; he taught me everything he knew. I am, however, a geisha"

The look that crossed Konohamaru's face was priceless and Sakura laughed.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing" the pinkette smiled. "So, could you tell me what happened? How you fell ill?"

Konohamaru propped himself up on his elbows and crossed his legs. "My father and I were attacked."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Where is your father?"

"… He didn't make it."

"I'm sorry…"

Konohamaru smiled up at the pinkette. "It's okay Sakura-chan… Anyway, I can't remember much. We were walking back when this man with bright red hair appeared. He said we would be good test subjects…" the boy looked down and sighed. "All I remember is my dad telling me to run… Then it all goes blank."

Sakura ran a hand through Konohamaru's damp hair. "Thank you for telling me this. Do you remember him carrying a weapon when you first saw him…?"

Konohamaru closed his eyes. "He didn't carry a weapon. Although he had many things around his waist"

Shizune re-entered the room. "Sakura-chan, the other two victims had similar markings on them. It wasn't in the exact area but they are the same mark. Think they were bitten by something?"

Sakura turned around and faced Shizune. "They were all attacked by a weapon or a small object. Shizune, I think we are dealing with poisons here."

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From the moment Sakura had decided that the patients had been poisoned, she had mentally thanked Ino for telling her to take the scroll. The pinkette had worked non-stop on Konohamaru while going over her dad's notes, right into the early hours of the following day. She had come to the conclusion that the poison was made from one of three flowers that were found in the Wind territory. Like she had told Ino, the plants needed for any of the antidotes were found in the Fire territory.

It was just a matter of finding them.

It had taken Sakura two days to get to Tanzaku as she had stopped to get a few herbs along the way, but none of them were the ones that she needed. She had spent a day working on Konohamaru which meant that he should fall unconscious soon. It also meant that the pinkette had eleven days left here and roughly four to save Konohamaru.

And she still had to find the plants.

The pinkette tore her eyes open (having had only two hours of sleep), grabbed her father's notes, wrote a note for Shizune and left to find the plants.

According to her father, all three plants had small white flowers and a herbaceous stem. One was easy enough to find as it was found in the outskirts of Tanzaku while the other two were found in moist areas.

Sakura immediately made her way back to Shizune's once she had found the closest one and she arrived when the sun had just risen. She decided to chance it, having found only one of the three plants.

"S-sakura-chan? I don't feel so good…"

The pinkette opened the shoji door and sulked when she saw Konohamaru. The flush from the fever was gone and the boy was deathly pale.

"It's going to be okay Konohamaru-kun, I swear"

She had sat down in the corner of the room and had taken out the plant from the pouch she had put it in.

"Shizune-chan!" she called. "Do you have a pestle and mortar?"

The short haired woman stumbled into the room with the objects and watched as Sakura ground the flower into a lime coloured paste.

The pinkette quickly got up and applied the paste to the mark on Konohamaru's clavicle and stared at the boy. "Nothing is going to happen immediately…" she mumbled. "But how do you feel?"

Konohamaru blinked at the pinkette. "Really tired…"

Sakura's eyes widened and she fell down next to the bed as Konohamaru's eyes began to droop. "No! Konohamaru stay with me!" She knew it was futile - it was part of the symptoms. He was going to fall unconscious eventually.

The young boy's eyelids wavered for a bit and he cast a lop-sided grin at the pinkette. "When you cure me, you better be the first person I see when I wake up"

The pinkette couldn't help but grin at his words and she watched as Konohamaru's eyes close. Sakura got up and stared at Shizune. "Where is the closest body of water around here? I'm going to look for the other plants just in case. Konohamaru's life is in my hands"

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It had taken a day for Sakura to trek to the nearest body of water. It was a medium sized waterfall that flowed into many small streams. The foliage around was lush and green and Sakura immediately got to work.

There were many plants with small white flowers and Sakura growled in frustration. None of the ones here were the ones she needed!

The pinkette headed towards the area near the bottom of the waterfall and nearly screamed when she saw a trail of dried copper coloured blood contrasting against the bright green grass. She followed it until she was staring at the body of a red haired man.

Sakura frowned. Hadn't Konohamaru said that their attacker had red hair? She coughed; at least the murderer had been killed.

As the pinkette was about to turn around, she saw his out stretched hand frozen stiff at the base of a small white flowered plant with a herbaceous stem.

Sakura's eyes widened and she reached forward to get the plant.

This was it! This was the flower she needed! Now all that she needed to do was get back to Shizune's in time.

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Sakura sighed from against the tree trunk that she rested against. As much as she wanted to push on forward and save Konohamaru, she just couldn't. Her feet screamed in frustration at each step that she took.

After all, if the healer goes, who's going to save the infected?

The pinkette rubbed her sore feet and yawned. There was probably seven hours still to go till she arrived at Tanzaku Town again. There was about two days left to save Konohamaru and she didn't know how long it would take for the antidote to kick in.

'And I only brought one plant' she mused to herself. She pulled it out of her bag and stared at the three flowers on it. 'It should make two antidotes'

Crack.

Jade eyes widened. Sakura slumped further down in order to disguise herself better. 'Damn my pink hair…!'

"Are you sure you saw someone around here?"

"Hai Juu, it was a pretty little thing too."

"How'd she look?"

"Cute. Pink hair"

Sakura hissed as she heard their laughs get closer. They sounded like they were on the other side of the tree she was against.

'Think Sakura! Think!'

The pinkette picked up a pebble from alongside the tree and threw it with all the energy she had to the right. It soared for a bit before a 'thunk' could be heard.

"Hear that? She went that way!"

Sakura shut her eyes as their footfalls echoed off in the direction of the pebble. She quickly got up, put her opened toed boots back on, and ran as fast as she could.

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"Shizune-san! I'm back!"

Sakura skidded to a halt as she ran into the house. On the floor was a long trail of red. There were mumbles from deep within and for some reason, they sounded oddly familiar.

Her legs carried her towards the voices and over the red liquid and then she stopped dead in her tracks.

In a corner of a new room stood Sasuke and Naruto and they watched as Shizune stitched up somebody. A man with silver hair sat near the shoji door and watched Shizune work as well.

Sakura's blood grew cold and she rushed forward. On the futon was the long haired samurai. His body was covered in cuts, bruises and red blotches. Across his chest was a terrible open gash and Sakura covered her mouth. He was deathly pale.

"Sakura-chan, we were attacked-" Naruto was cut off by Shizune.

"Sakura-chan, he was poisoned! Please tell me you have the plant!"

"I have it Shizune-san. I can save him don't worry!" Sakura ran over to a corner and took out the plants from her sack. 'Please tell me I'm in time…' she thought while scurrying around for the pestle and mortar. The pinkette then lifted her head. "Can someone tell me how many days ago he was attacked?"

Naruto was the one who answered. "Five days Sakura-chan"

'Five days. We're too late.'

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**A/N:** Thank you for reading! And to those who reviewed, alerted and fav'd the previous chapter!

-Moka


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own!

Enjoy!

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'_Sakura-chan?'_

'_Hai Tou-san?'_

'_Do you feel that? That gentle thumping? It's a heartbeat Sakura-chan. Remember, no matter how hard or soft it is- it shows that that person is still alive. There is still hope that you can save them'_

Sakura's fathers' words echoed in her head as she ground the flowers into a paste. Right now, both Konohamaru and the samurai's lives were in her hands.

'I won't fail. I won't fail like how I did with Kaa-san'

The pinkette drew a line in the middle of the mixture so it was divided exactly in half. She carried the mortar and kneeled next to the futon the samurai lay on.

At the bottom of the open gash across his chest was the rash that accumulated around the weapon wound.

"Don't let me get in your way Shizune-san," said Sakura softly as she took half of the lime paste and rubbed it on the mark. "He has other wounds to attend to…"

Shizune hummed from alongside the pinkette and carried on suturing up the gash across the man's chest. 'Where did this girl come from exactly?' she mused to herself. 'She's more of a healer than I am…'

Once the pinkette was done, she got up and dried her hands off on her once clean hakama's. "I am going to apply this to Konohamaru quickly. I'll be back to help you now Shizune-san"

Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi stared as she left the room in a blur. "Sakura-chan is a healer?" asked Naruto while running a hand through his messy locks.

Shizune looked up as she finished closing up the gash. "Honestly? I'm just as surprised as you are"

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It had been a day since Sakura had returned with the antidote and so far only Konohamaru seemed to be improving, even if he was still unconscious. The once pale boy now had a healthy flush to his skin and when Sakura placed her index finger to his neck, she could feel his heart happily thumping away.

Sasuke's brother however…

It was a miracle they had not lost him. His five days had come and gone, yet he was still alive. The samurai was still pale and unresponsive. When Sakura placed her finger to his pulse it was weak, and sometimes it was erratic.

However fast or slow it was, he was still alive.

Sakura sighed and lifted her finger from the samurai's neck and leaned back.

"Any change?" asked Sasuke as he walked into the room holding a plate of dango.

Sakura eyed the dango and shook her head. "It seems to be rather dull today" She then glanced at the mark where the rash used to be and sighed. "At least this area seems to be regaining its normal colour."

Sasuke left the plate next to her and offered her a small smile. "You helped save his life Sakura-san. It doesn't matter how small the changes are, the point is that there are changes and that he is going to get better"

The pinkette smiled softly as she nibbled on the sweet treat.

"Anyway, aren't you a geisha?"

"A geisha is a woman of many talents Sasuke-san," said Sakura with a wink. "If you must know, my father taught me how to heal"

Sasuke took a stick of dango for himself and hummed. "We hardly saw our father. Kaa-san was the one who taught my brother how to fight and he taught me"

"Your mother was a samurai?"

The young Uchiha grinned and as he moved onto the next dango on the stick. "She too was a geisha before my father married her. Like you said, a geisha is a woman of many talents"

Sakura smiled at Sasuke and glanced down at his brother. "Hey Sasuke-san…?"

"Hm?"

"What is your brother's name?"

Sasuke laughed, stood up and walked towards the doorway. "That's for me to know and you to find out"

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"Hey there sleepyhead"

Jade eyes gleamed as Konohamaru's eyelids fluttered open.

Confused chocolate brown eyes were revealed and a smile pulled at the young boy's lips. He was about to open his mouth when Sakura thrust a glass of water in his hands.

"Drink, your throat must be parched"

Konohamaru smiled and nodded as he tipped the glass back and gulped the liquid down.

"And? How do you feel?"

The fourteen year old coughed as he gave the glass back to the pinkette. "Sore, but better than before"

Sakura smiled at him. "Well you have been stuck in bed for five days you know"

"Well the way my muscles are cramping I would think it was a month," he muttered as he looked through the shoji door that led outside.

"It's probably because of all the toxins…"

Konohamaru looked back at the pinkette. "Arigatou Sakura-san, for saving my life"

"Aah it's no problem Konohamaru-kun"

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"Roll faster! Block! Naruto-san I'm going easy on you, a real enemy is going to come at you full force! Now come on!"

A distance from Shizune's house, the sliver haired samurai and Naruto had found a clearing big enough to train in. It was also far enough so Sasuke could not hear them train.

The blonde decided that he wanted to distract his mind and make himself more useful rather than sit and stare at Itachi's unmoving body. He had therefore gone to Kakashi and asked the man to train him yet again.

"I'm unfit okay!"

"That's nonsense! You've been travelling with those two insane Uchiha's for fourteen years Naruto-san. I travelled with them for one day before the attack and found myself getting tired and I've been a samurai for Kami knows how long. You didn't even break out into a sweat! Now come on, another twenty quick strikes then we will work on your dodging again"

Naruto huffed as he unsheathed Minato's katana and began to match Kakashi's every move.

"… Nineteen and twenty! And roll!"

"OW!"

The silver haired samurai laughed as Naruto landed on his behind and glared up at him. "I did say we were going to start on your dodging"

Naruto pouted, got up and rubbed his sore bum. "I didn't know you meant immediately! Old man with a crazy leg sweep…" he muttered as he got back into a defensive stance.

Kakashi grinned at the blonde. "You're right about me being old… That's it for now, I'm really tired. Good work"

"Arigatou Kakashi-sensei!" exclaimed Naruto as he put the katana back in its case. "Hey, when we came here the last time there was this really good stuff I ate… It was called ramen. Want to go get some?"

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Two days had passed since Konohamaru had woken up and the boy seemed to be full of life. This meant that Sakura had spent roughly eight or nine days in Tanzaku and only had about five left.

Sakura bit her lip as she changed the bandage across Sasuke's brothers' chest and let her hand hover over where his heart should be. Today his heartbeat seemed to be… normal?

A smile pulled at the pinkettes lips as she smoothened out the bandage with her hand.

'I came here to distract my mind from this man and just look' she mused to herself. 'I can only imagine what Ino-chan is going to say…'

"Saaaakura-chan"

The pinkette turned around to see Naruto slide the shoji door open. "Ohayo Naruto-san!"

The blonde grinned at her as he walked to the shoji door on the opposite side of the room and slid it open. "This room is so stuffy," he muttered as a cool breeze filtered in. "He could do with some fresh air"

"…He has a name you know," Said Sakura with a glint to her eyes.

"That he does, but he'd kill me if I told you Sakura-chan. He has two katana's for a reason," Naruto gave the pinkette a look and sat down in front of the newly opened door. "How is he doing today?"

Sakura pouted at the change of topic but smiled softly. "Better as his pulse is regular. And it seems his skin is healing well under all these bandages"

Naruto smiled at her. "Ne, Sakura-chan, when you're done here we should go out for ramen!"

"I doubt I'll be leaving Sasuke's brothers side anytime soon Naruto-san"

"Well then… I actually wanted to talk to you about something…"

"Oh?"

"Or someone…"

A grin pulled at Sakura's lips and she giggled. "Does that someone's name start with an 'H'?"

A light red tinted the blonde's cheeks and he scratched his nose. "…Maybe"

The pinkette laughed at his response. "Come now, do tell"

As Naruto began speaking, Sakura's vision began to blur. Her body felt hot and white dots flooded her vision. She could see the blondes' lips move but no words came out.

"Sakura-chan?"

The pinkette tried to open her mouth but her body gave up on her and she slumped to the side, landing next to Sasuke's brother.

"Sakura-chan!"

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"- And that is what happens when you do not eat a proper meal, over work yourself for days and do not rest for a minimum of seven or eight hours a day," said Shizune as she got up and stared down at Sakura's sleeping form. "Your body burns out"

"She's alright though? She hasn't been poisoned right?" asked Naruto while casting the pinkette a look of concern.

"Sakura-san hasn't been poisoned," Shizune smiled at the blonde and walked over to the shoji door. "She's just exhausted. Now why don't you help me move her to another futon? I'm sure she'd like her space"

A grin pulled at Naruto's lips. "Ne, actually I think both she and Itachi-san would like it if you left her there." He eyed the pinkette at how she had somehow snuggled up against the sleeping man's side and the blonde chuckled evilly.

Shizune stared at the blonde before shrugging and walking off. "…Anyway… Konohamaru was looking for you Naruto-san. Why don't you tell Kakashi-san to come guard them just in case?"

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Itachi hissed as he slowly opened his eyes. He sucked in a breath of air and then began choking. The Uchiha then clutched at his chest as spasms of pain filled his form and he stared down.

His chest was bare, except for the clean white bandage that wound itself around his rib area and down to just above his hip, where there was an ever so slight discoloration to his skin.

The long haired man squinted at that area and tried to remember what had happened. He was about to sit up when something gripped onto the bandage on his side and Itachi glanced over to see a ball of pink and white curled against his hip, and that ball was holding him in place.

"She's asleep if you're wondering"

Itachi looked up to where the voice came from to see Kakashi sitting near a shoji door that led outside. The older man had an amused look on his face and he laughed. "Before you speak, there's a glass of water to your right"

Itachi moved his right arm and clutched the glass. His muscles felt incredibly weak and as he was about to lift the glass up, a hand lightly swatted his own. The older Uchiha frowned and looked to his left to see a sleepy looking Sakura squinting at him.

"You won't be able to hold it by yourself…" she mumbled.

The older Uchiha watched as the pinkette leaned over him and picked up the glass herself before placing it to his lips.

"Drink"

Kakashi watched the whole scene with a small smile. It felt as if he was interrupting something… But hey, neither of the two seemed to notice he was there.

"How do you feel?"

Itachi gulped down the last few drops of water and leaned back onto his elbows. "…Confused"

Sakura laughed at the samurai's answer and slowly got up from the futon. She stretched while yawning and looked back down at Sasuke's brother who was staring at her with a look of utter confusion. "You were poisoned Samurai-san. You should have been dead but the antidote seems to have kicked in in time"

Itachi didn't quite know what she was talking about. Right now all that was going through his head was how much he missed the warmth that was curled against his side. He looked over to Kakashi and blinked. "Could you close the door? It's rather cold…"

The silver haired samurai grinned from where he was. "Missing the warmth that just left your side?"

Itachi frowned and stared up at the pinkette. "Yes"

Sakura gaped at the samurai and let her cheeks flood pink. "Samurai-san –"

"I'm tired… Gomenasai Sakura-chan…" mumbled Itachi as his eyes drifted closed.

The pinkette stared at the sleeping man and then looked over to Kakashi who was grinning in the corner. "Did that just happen?"

"Mm hmm," Kakashi's exposed eye crinkled and he got up to close the shoji door. "Let him sleep, maybe this time when he wakes up he'll be less confused."

Sakura hummed in agreement and stared at Sasuke's brother with a blush dusting her cheeks.

"Anyway, someone collapsed earlier because they had not been resting or eating"

The pinkette looked back at Kakashi and grinned sheepishly. "I was worried about my patients okay"

Kakashi rolled his eyes as he walked over to Sakura and gently gripped her elbow. "Shizune made supper, you're going to eat." He gave Sakura a straight face," Don't make me feed you now"

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The moon was directly above Shizune's house. Its light illuminated the area and slightly filtered through the open shoji door leading into Samurai-san's room.

Sakura sat in front of the shoji door and stared at the lush forest surrounding Shizune's house and sighed. She had been force-fed by Kakashi earlier and had had an afternoon nap, and when she awoke, Sasuke's brother was still asleep.

It was probably a little after midnight and the pinkette was wide awake and at the samurai's side, eager for him to wake again.

She fiddled with the sleeve of her kimono and looked over her shoulder at the sleeping man.

Just yesterday he was covered in a thin layer of sweat and his body was flushed. His face would sometimes scrunch up and relax…But today he looked so calm, so at peace. His skin even seemed to glow in the moonlight. When Sakura spoke to him at the geisha house, she noticed he had strange lines going down either side of his nose, but they appeared to have vanished altogether.

'Dare I say he looks ethereal…?'

His face seemed flawless. His nose and cheekbones were sharp and defined and those eyes… Sakura looked at his closed almond shaped eyes and the way his long lashes covered his lids. His long hair was open and shone in the moonlight.

'What I would do to run my hands through those locks…'

The pinkettes eyes wandered lower to his bandaged torso which rose and fell gently with each breath and Sakura remembered all the scars she saw underneath.

'Not to mention those muscles…' she thought to herself

Just as her jade orbs were about to dip lower, a pink rosiness broke out on her cheeks and she tore her gaze from the sleeping man.

A sleepy grin was directed at her back and the shuffling of sheets was heard.

"Like what you see?"

Sakura shut her eyes and bit her lip at the deep and husky sleep induced tone. Her shoulders froze up and she slowly turned around, blush still intact.

The samurai had managed to prop himself up onto his elbows and was staring straight at Sakura with a lazy grin on his face.

With his change of position, Sasuke's brother's hakama's seemed to have dipped slightly and the pinkette gazed at a creamy white expanse of skin and hipbone.

Sakura's blush increased tenfold and she forced herself to look the wooden floorboards instead.

'Just stare at the floor… It's much more interesting than a half-naked samurai…' The pinkette blinked and then looked up. "H-hi there," Sakura mentally cursed at her stutter and offered the samurai a shy smile.

The long haired man dipped his head in acknowledgement and grinned. He shifted again on the futon and was about to get up when Sakura shot her hand out in a halting motion.

"W-wait! Don't get up by yourself," she mumbled as she quickly got up and moved over to his side. Sakura gently put the samurai's arm across her shoulders and she held his bandaged side in order to help him up. "Slowly…" the pinkette assisted the man up onto his feet and was not surprised when his knees nearly bucked underneath him. "I got you Samurai-san. Are you sure you want to get up so soon?"

The samurai nodded and squeezed her shoulder gently. "Can you wake my brother up? I need someone to help me clean up…"

Sakura stared at the shoji door leading to the passageway and other rooms and mumbled an 'okay'. "How do your legs feel? Do you think you can stand while I go call him quickly?"

"…I'll try to"

The pinkette reluctantly took her hand from the man's side and ducked under his arm. "Be right back"

The samurai nodded and Sakura sped out the room and in the direction of Sasuke's room.

Sliding the screen door open, she found the young dark haired samurai sitting on his futon and staring at the view outside his room.

"Sakura-san?"

"Sasuke-san come quick! Your brother's awake!"

Sasuke's eyes widened and in a flash, he was out the room.

The pinkette slowly exhaled and rolled her eyes before picking up the front material of her kimono and running back to the samurai's room. Sasuke was already supporting his brother and assisting him to the door.

Sakura smiled when the older of the two lifted his head and gave her a lopsided smile.

It was then that the pinkette realized that he was okay, that he was definitely on the road to recovery.

Leaning against a wall, she watched Sasuke take his brother away and smiled to herself.

'If it wasn't for Tou-san's work and words, both Konohamaru and Samurai-san would have died. I… I saved them. I'm no longer a failure… It's time to forget about the past'

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**A/N: **Thank you for reading! And to those who reviewed and alerted :)

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! :D

The next update will hopefully be... before the New Year ^_^'


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own!**

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The atmosphere around the low dining room table was tense. Naruto stared awkwardly from Itachi, to Sakura and then to Konohamaru. Ever since Itachi had woken the day before, it was as if Konohamaru had… changed.

"Sakura-chan, how come you get to feed Sasuke's brother?" asked the young teen with a slight pout to his lips.

The pinkette sighed as she placed down the chopsticks. She spared Samurai-san an apologetic look before glancing at Konohamaru. "Konohamaru-kun, he's still weak!"

Konohamaru crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the older Uchiha. "Well he looks perfectly fine to me! Anyway, you didn't feed me when I woke up"

Itachi meanwhile rolled his eyes at the younger boys' antics and reached forward to pick up his chopsticks with a wince, ignoring the pain that shot across his chest. "Sakura-san do not worry, I will feed myself"

Sakura bit her lip. "But-"

The samurai cast her a slight smile and brought a mouthful of 'express-ramen' to his lips to show her that he could eat on his own.

Sakura pouted and looked down to her lap and tried to ignore the slight flinches the man next to her would give off whenever he moved his arm. She then looked up to see Konohamaru slurping his own ramen with a grin on his face. 'Brat' she thought with a shake of her head.

Konohamaru finished off his second bowl of express-ramen that Naruto had bought and sighed happily. "So Sakura-chan, will you be working with Shizune-nee from now on?"

"Ano… I have to go back to the geisha house Konohamaru-kun. Tsunade-sama granted me a time period here. I was actually planning on leaving tomorrow…"

"No!" exclaimed the fourteen year old with wide eyes. "You can't go!"

Sakura giggled at the younger boy. "If I don't leave by myself, Tsunade-sama will send her perverted… friend… to come fetch me... So I have no choice but to leave tomorrow"

Konohamaru pouted from where he sat and glanced to Itachi to see him smirk.

"We'll be sure to come visit you Sakura-san," Itachi said as he cast Konohamaru a look. He then looked back at the pinkette who was smiling at him. "I have to thank you _personally _after all"

Konohamaru's cheeks puffed up and he glared at the older man. Naruto quickly intervened when he noticed the younger boy contemplate on a comeback or a rant. "Sakura-chan! Seeing as you are leaving tomorrow, can we talk now?"

Sakura silently exhaled and nodded. "Samurai-san, will you be alright or should I stay with you?" she asked as she observed that said samurai and Konohamaru seemed to be having some sort of glaring battle.

The older man glanced to the side and nodded politely. "It is quite alright Sakura-san. Go and talk with Naruto-kun"

The pinkette nodded as she got up and left behind Naruto. However, as she exited the room, a very interesting conversation from behind met her ears.

"She's mine Uchiha"

"Hn. You wish"

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Naruto swung his legs from the branch that he sat on and looked down at Sakura who was leaning against the base of the tree.

"So, Sakura-chan, that conversation about she-whose-name-starts-with-an-H"

Sakura giggled and looked up at the blonde. "Yes, about Hinata-chan"

A light red dusted the blonde's cheeks and he scratched the tip of his nose. "I… I have a few things that I wish to ask about"

"Hm?"

"That day that we left the Geisha house, you said that she likes me? How do you know that? I mean…"

Sakura smiled at Naruto and then stared up at the sky above them. "Hinata-chan is similar to us in some ways and different in others as you may have noticed." The blonde nodded and Sakura carried on. "Like me, she had a terrible childhood but hers took its toll on her."

Naruto stared at a single leaf as it fell past his nose and floated to the ground below. An image of Hinata filled his mind and he sighed.  
It was of the second and last time he was at the geisha house. Hinata was kneeling before him and serving him a cup of tea and he was telling her something… complementing her. Yet no smile pulled at the geisha's lips. Her mouth was set in a straight, unmoving line even as she thanked him. He could hear the shyness in her voice, and he could see the slight glimmer to her pale eyes, but there was no indication of a smile or a blush on her face.  
The night had carried on and Naruto continued to be himself and crack jokes here and there, yet she still did not smile. Her eyes and laughter reflected her emotion. But why did she not smile?

"Sakura-chan…?" Naruto's voice wavered as he spoke and he looked below at the pink haired woman. "Does Hinata-chan not like to smile?"

"It's not that she doesn't like to smile… It's just that she has forgotten how to"

A frown pulled at the blondes lips and he looked to Sakura for an explanation.

"Look… I'm going to tell you of her past because I have heard of how she speaks of you. And by the looks of it…" Sakura shook her head and she smiled brightly at Naruto. "You're the first guy that she feels safe around. Even if you have only seen her twice, she feels different around you. So, I am going to tell you this as she trusts you and I do too"

The usually energetic blonde seemed to mellow down at this and he smiled at Sakura, urging her to carry on.

"Hinata-chan is from the Hyuuga clan. Now I'm not sure if you know, but they are just as high and mighty as the Senju and Uchiha. Hinata-chan's father is the head of the Hyuuga and when his wife gave birth to Hinata, his wife grew ill. She didn't improve and slowly, Hinata's father began to blame it on Hinata, even if she was just a small child. Her mother then gave birth to another girl seven years later and straight after doing so, her mother passed on.  
"Hinata-chan's father became aggressive and he verbally and, well, mentally abused her. He told Hinata that it was her fault that her mother had died. She was just seven Naruto-san... And from then, things got worse until one day; her father threw her out at the age of nine. He told her she was a failure to the clan and that she had killed a kinsman and must be removed."

The blonde kept his head down the entire time. He bit his tongue and let his long spiky locks fall over his eyes. "…What happened then?"

"Hinata says she wandered around aimlessly for a few days and then fainted. When she woke up, Tsunade-sama was leaning over her. Tsunade-sama cared for Hinata-chan and nursed her back to health. Tsunade-sama also offered to take Hinata in and she gladly accepted, not knowing what else to do, where else to go... So from the age of nine Tsunade-sama began teaching her the ways of the geisha and on her sixteenth birthday she officially became a geisha."

"So her father caused her to forget how to smile?"

"Not only him. That forever plagued Hinata-chan's conscience and still does today. But, that same day that I stopped being a geisha, something also happened to Hinata... The customers, there were two of them, had asked for Hinata and myself… something went horribly wrong and they turned aggressive. While they… took it out on me, they had tied Hinata up and made her watch…"

Naruto's gaze shot downwards and he noticed Sakura had slumped against the base of the tree and had pulled her knees to her chest. "Sakura-chan… did they…?"

Sakura looked up and shook her head. "No! They just manhandled me and stuff…" the pinkette trailed off as she didn't quite want to tell Naruto. That was her story, she was telling Hinata's only. "From that day Hinata stopped smiling"

Naruto bit his lip and he imagined Hinata's face. He could still remember the way her eyes had lit up and glistened when he told her that she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. The blonde looked at Sakura to see her studying him with a contemplative look.

"Sakura-chan, I want you to tell me everything that Hinata-chan loves. From colours… to flowers to heck, even animals."

A serious look covered the blondes face and Sakura blinked. "Okay… but why?"

"I also feel different around Hinata-chan… and it kills me to see someone so beautiful so sad…" Naruto looked at the branch he sat on and Sakura noticed that his eyes seemed to glisten. "I want to see her smile Sakura-chan. That's it. I'll do whatever it takes to see her smile. And this time, she'll never forget"

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Sakura smiled happily to herself as Naruto's words echoed in her head. The blonde had thereafter made Sakura swear not to tell anyone (especially Hinata) about his new goal and had practically repeated every love of Hinata's as Sakura named them so he wouldn't forget.

"You seem happy"

The pinkette looked up to see Samurai-san leaning against a wall with a hand across his bandaged torso. She quickly got up from the low dining room table she sat at and shuffled over to his side. "You're supposed to be resting in bed!" she scolded while waggling a finger under his nose.

The samurai seemed amused at her antics and sighed softly. "I recover fast and I don't like to be stuck on a futon all day"

Sakura crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a look. "I don't care. You need to recover properly." She was about to prod him in the shoulder with a finger and continue her rant when the samurai caught her index finger and smirked.

"I'm thirsty Sakura-san, is that a good enough reason to be out of bed?"

The pinkette huffed and wriggled her finger out of his grasp. "You could have called or something from your room"

"I don't like raising my voice either," he said with a smirk. "Anyway, my healer wasn't in my room to help me. See, she was sitting around the dining room table smiling to herself."

A light hue covered Sakura's face and she looked away from the smirking man.

"Can't imagine what she was thinking about, that smile was practically brightening up the dark room"

Sakura looked back at the samurai and gaped at him while trying to ignore the blush that burned the tips of her ears and the back of her neck. "S-samurai-san, I think you are dehydrated! Back to your room! I'll bring you something!" She made a shoo-ing motion with her hands but the man simply shuffled around her and lowered himself to the table.

"Like I said Sakura-san, I don't like to be stuck on my futon the whole day"

The pink haired woman exhaled and realised she was not going to win. "What do you want to drink?"

"Water is just fine"

"… And a sake for me…" she mumbled as she moved to Shizune's cupboards and pulled out two cups. "Hmm, don't suppose Konohamaru-kun is going to appear?"

The samurai twitched from where he sat and ran a finger along the wooden surface of the table. "I hope not…"

Sakura smiled as she walked over to the table with the two cups in her hands. One was filled with water and the other empty as a bottle of sake was under her arm. "Kami knows why he hates you," she said honestly as she sat opposite the man and gave him his cup of water. She poured her sake and looked up to see the samurai giving her a look. "What?"

The samurai chuckled and shook his head as he lifted up his cup. "Nothing Sakura-san, nothing"

The pinkette cocked her head to the side before frowning and sipping her sake.

"Sakura-san?"

"Hai?"

"Tell me about yourself"

"Hah?"

Sasuke's brother chuckled and he set his cup down on the table. "Tell me about yourself," he repeated slower with a smirk.

Sakura pouted. "It's not really fair that I get to tell you stuff and I don't even know your name"

The man shrugged. "Life is unfair like that"

The pinkette gaped at the samurai as he smirked and sipped his water. She then huffed and downed the contents of her cup before refilling it. "Fine Samurai-san, be like that! I'm not telling you anything about me then!"

"Oh?"

"Life is unfair like that"

The samurai smirked as he tipped his water back and then placed his cup down. "Touché"

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"_Oh?"_

"_Life is unfair like that"_

"_Touché"_

Naruto gasped and sauntered further up against the wall in an attempt to see this Un-Itachi-Like scene unfold. He had been listening in to the entire conversation from the time Itachi had entered the dining room and had been flabbergasted at how Itachi had responded to Sakura.

It was so… different! So terribly different!

Naruto had practically known Itachi and Sasuke from the moment he had been born and this was the first time the blonde had seen the usually stoic and dead serious Uchiha so… relaxed and teasing.

'I must be dreaming.'

The blonde pinched himself and winced.

'Maybe the injury caused some brain damage to him!'

The blonde silently brought down a fist down to his open palm and mentally selected this option. He nodded and listened in to their conversation again. It seemed that Sakura and Itachi had come to a mutual agreement and were playing a game of sorts.

"_My turn! What is your favourite food Samurai-san?"_

"…_Do not laugh"_

"_Why would I laugh over a favourite food?"_

"_Hn…Cabbage..."_

"…"

"…_Sakura-san you're laughing"_

"_No I'm not I'm…"_

"_Crying now"_

"_Well it is a bit of an awful favourite food"_

"…"

"_It is! Normally you'd get an answer like onigiri or tempura or even ramen! But cabbage?"_

"…"

"…"

"…"

"_Are you seriously ignoring me?"_

"…"

"_Come on Samuraaai-san!"_

"…"

"_Don't make me tickle you."_

Naruto silently giggled from around the wall and could almost imagine look Itachi would be directing at Sakura. It would be that famous Uchiha stare and you would be able to feel a part of you wither up and die from seeing it. The blonde craned his neck ever so slightly so he could see what was happening and he nearly screamed.

A highly flushed Sakura leaned over the table (and an empty sake bottle or two) and knocked over the two cups in the process while her fingers wiggled maliciously.  
Itachi sat wide eyed and still as Sakura leaned over and just as it seemed she was about to attack him, Itachi dodged to the side with a slight wince and Sakura landed flat across the table.

The pinkettes head lolled to the side and she let a peal of laughter out. Itachi had an amused look on his face and Naruto gaped when Itachi began to chuckle, and almost laugh.

The blonde tore his head away from the scene and stared wide eyed at the wall opposite him. 'Either he suffered mental damage after that attack or… Sakura-chan is causing Itachi to change'

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Itachi exhaled and smirked as the sake in Sakura's veins began to wear off. For a while they had been randomly asking each other questions which had, most of the time, ended up in the drunken Sakura wanting to tickle his name out of him.

"Bah… I just finished two bottles of sake… I swear there was just one…" murmured Sakura as she lowered her face onto the table.

Itachi hmm'd and cast the girl an amused look.

Sakura looked up at Itachi with big apple green eyes that seemed to be glistening. "Take me to my room"

"Might I remind you that I am injured?"

The pinkette huffed and rubbed her face against the table surface. "Fine, I'll sleep right here then…"

'And this girl here is a geisha…' mused Itachi to himself as he got to his feet. He walked behind Sakura and braced himself as he wrapped his arms around her waist and threw her over his shoulder, smirking as she began to argue.

"Do I look like a bag of potatoes to you?!" she hissed as she squirmed around.

Itachi ignored the slight pain, held the back of her thighs, and began walking her to her room. "… You sure feel like one."

Sakura twitched and pouted and chose to stare at the samurai's back instead.

"I'm joking Sakura-san," came his rather soft voice once they had reached Sakura's room. Itachi slowly lowered the pinkette to her futon, changing his grip so one hand gently placed her head down to the futon. Once she was on the futon, the older Uchiha slipped his hands out from under her body and straightened himself.

Sakura meanwhile was silent and had turned a deep red.

Itachi smiled softly at Sakura and he inclined his head slightly. "Goodnight Sakura-san." He turned around and began to walk towards the shoji door.

The pinkette blinked quickly and her hand shot out towards him. "Wait!"

"Hn?" Itachi slowly turned around and looked at the pinkette who had stood up and was gripping onto the side of his bandages.

"Stay with me tonight"

Sakura saw the samurai's eyes flash a shade darker and a look crossed his face.

"Ano, I mean… Not like that… Just spend the night with me… Please?" Itachi's eyes softened and Sakura continued, not really knowing where this was all coming from. Maybe that sake was not quite done with her? "Just that the last time you left you nearly ended up dead… And I leave tomorrow so…-"

Sakura's ramble was cut short as she felt the samurai place her on her futon. She pouted thinking that he was about to leave when she noticed that the futon had dipped because of the extra weight added. The samurai pulled the covers up to their waists and the pinkette smiled.

"Goodnight Sakura-san"

"Goodnight Samurai-san"

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**A/N:**** Thank you all for reading! And to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter!  
Feedback is greatly appreciated! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: ****I don't own!**

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When Itachi woke up the following day, he rolled over and expected to see a ball of pink curled against his side again. But all that he was greeted with was a cold spot of crumpled sheets.

He ran a hand through his long locks and sighed. A slight frown pulled at his lips and he shook his head as he slowly got up and looked down at his bandaged torso.

'Shizune-san will have to check up on my wounds now that Sakura-san is gone' Itachi walked over to the shoji doors leading further into Shizune's and sighed. 'She could have at least said goodbye'

The samurai padded lightly down the corridor to go get cleaned up when a light chatter met his ears. It was from the dining room and Itachi stopped walking.

"_Sakura-chan, Samurai-san is not a morning person if he is given a nice futon to sleep on. I don't think he'll be up for a while"_

"_It doesn't matter. I'll wait"_

Itachi blinked slowly and walked towards the dining room to see the blonde and pinkette sitting opposite each other at the dining room table. All evidence of Sakura's sake had been removed and instead, two steaming cups of tea were placed on the low wooden table.

The corner of the older Uchiha's lips tugged upwards as he watched Sakura tuck a loose lock behind her ear as she began to talk animatedly to Naruto.

"Anyway, lets' kill time so long! I saw this really nice kimono that I wanted to buy for when I'm back at the geisha house!" she clapped her hands and smiled brightly. "It was in Tanzaku but I have to save up a bit first… It was black with a sliver and red flower pattern and so pretty…"

Itachi frowned. She would earn more money by entertaining more men. That was her real job in any case. He huffed and glared at the wall and then noticed that Sakura was calling him.

The pinkette giggled from where she sat. "Naruto-san was right when he said that you weren't a morning person, Samurai-san"

Itachi coughed and walked over towards them. "I thought you had already left"

Sakura noticed that Samurai-san had his lips set in an unmoving line and his expression was rather serious, but she could detect a hint of sadness in his eyes. She smiled and stood up. "I can't just leave without saying goodbye Samurai-san. Anyway, why don't you go get cleaned up? I'll change your bandages before I leave"

Naruto stared from where he sat and smiled as he brought his cup of tea to his lips.

Sakura sighed as she watched Samurai-san walk away and turned around to see Naruto smiling to himself. "What?" she asked as she made her way back to the table and kneeled down.

The blonde merely shook his blonde locks. "Nothing Sakura-chan"

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"Ne, Sakura-chan, I'm going to miss you"

Said pinkette giggled as she ruffled Konohamaru's hair. "You will see me again Konohamaru-kun, don't worry"

Konohamaru playfully glared up at Sakura and tried to dodge her hand as it went for his hair again. "But still!"

Sakura grinned as she bent lower and placed a kiss to his forehead. She then leaned back and began to rummage through her small travelling sack at her hip.

Konohamaru meanwhile had turned a bright red and looked over in Itachi's direction while pulling a victory pose. The fourteen year old then grinned widely and stuck his tongue out at the older man who rolled his eyes.

"Are you all set?" asked Shizune as she walked behind Sakura with a wooden box in her hands.

Sakura nodded and made sure her sack was properly secured and turned around to face Shizune who placed the box in her hands.

"It's a bento," she said with a small smile. "I know it's not much considering how much you helped but-"

"Kya, don't worry Shizune-nee! Food is always acceptable in my eyes." Sakura placed the wooden box in her sack and turned around to face the small group. "Well, I guess I'll be off then"

Konohamaru grinned. 'She didn't even say bye to Itachi-san!' His thoughts were then interrupted as he watched Sakura walk up to Itachi and smile.

"Last night was fun, we should do it again when you come to visit," the pinkette winked at the smirking samurai.

Konohamaru gaped as he watched Sakura set off and he let his gaze waver to Itachi who had crossed his arms over his chest and was grinning triumphantly.

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It had been a day and a bit since Sakura left Shizune's and all she wanted was to either go back there where she would be safe or for the geisha house to magically appear. From the moment the pinkette had set off she had a weird feeling in her gut. It felt as if there was someone there… But every time she turned around, all she could see was the lush greenery of the surrounding forest.

Sakura looked over her shoulder again as a cold chill ran up her back. A bush behind her was rustling!

The pinkette gripped her travelling sack at her side and she stared at the rustling foliage. She had to be brave!

"Show yourself!"

She bit her lip and expected the worst… only for a white rabbit to jump out, blink at her a few times, and then scurry off somewhere.

Sakura sighed and laughed hesitantly as she turned around and began to walk again.

'Silly Sakura… There's no one there.'

The pinkette quickened her steps as she swore she heard something behind her again.

'No one at all…'

_Snap._

'…'

Sakura's hand slipped into her sack and she continued to walk forward, slowing her steps slightly.

She could hear something… someone behind her. They were trying to keep up with her strides.

The pinkette stopped walking and waited until she could practically hear them right behind her, breathing down her neck. She shut her eyes and exhaled… and with a swing of her arm and body, she hit her stalker straight in the head with Shizune's wooden bento.

Sakura panted as she stared at a strangely muscled man with choppy white shoulder length hair. The man clutched a hand to his head and hissed as he glared downwards at her. He gripped her shoulder and grinned maliciously.

"Finally caught you Pinkie"

Sakura's brain went into a frenzy and she did the only thing that she could think of. The pinkette spat at the man's face and tore herself from his grasp.

It was then that the pinkette noticed the short katana in his grip and her eyes widened.

"I'm going to kill you for that"

The pinkette dropped the bento and began running in the direction of the geisha house.

'There are two routes… The path ahead is flat and I doubt I'll be able to lose him there…'

Sakura ran forward and then forked off to the right. The terrain here was somewhat loose and at a slight incline. Ahead, there was a small hill that would eventually end up at a field of sakura trees. She would lose him there.

The pinkette looked over her shoulder to see the muscled man stumble as the loose earth gave way from beneath his feet. He growled and regained his footing and continued to sprint towards her.

'If I don't hurry up he'll catch me here!'

Sakura approached the hill and smiled as she easily ran up and sprinted ahead. She came face to face with a field that the girls and her would usually visit. Heart pounding away, she continued to run until she thought that she was safe.

The pinkette gasped for air and looked around at the familiar surroundings. It was a plantation of sakura trees, all at different stages of growth. Usually you would be able to spot her from a mile away when her hair stood out against the bright green leaves and brown bark. But here, with the trees in bloom, she would fit right in.

However…

"Smart of you to have lead me here, girl. Too bad I'm fast"

Sakura froze and slowly turned around. At the top of the hill stood the muscled man who was panting slightly. He had a great smirk on his face and he slowly walked towards Sakura, who took a step backwards with each of his steps towards her.

"What do you want from me?" she said as she felt her back hit a tree trunk.

"I saw you near Tanzaku. You know those samurai, and guess whose job it is to kill them?"

The pinkette felt the colour drain from her face as he shrugged the side of his haori down. His left arm was exposed and had a tiger stripe pattern along his bicep. His right hand clutched his short katana and he grinned. "I was planning on using you as bait, but it would be more fun to watch you die instead"

Sakura shut her eyes and let out a broken sigh as she heard him stop right in front of her.

'Think Sakura think!'

"Those samurai seemed weak anyway"

'…I'm out of ideas…'

She opened her eyes and saw his katana swing towards her. Eyes widening, Sakura ducked low out of instinct and rolled to the side, not missing when his blade connected with her shoulder. Not having time to care about it, Sakura pushed off the ground and sprinted forward and away from the man.

"You cannot outrun me Pinkie!"

As Sakura and the man sprinted past, the smaller sakura trees shook, letting their pink petals fill the air. The pinkette grinned and looked over her shoulder as the man tried to swat the petals from obscuring his vision.

"You cannot outsprint or outsmart Mizuki, girl! Give up now!"

He leapt forward and arched his blade forward towards the pinkette, who jumped backwards and hissed as the katana grazed her left calf muscle.

She collapsed backwards and stared up at the man who loomed over her with a crazed grin on his face. "Told you girl, you cannot outsprint or outsmart Mizuki!"

"But I can!"

Sakura blinked as she saw a flash of red and white land in front of her as Mizuki flew through the air and landed on the ground as the pink petals ballooned around him.

"Sakura-hime, are you okay?"

The pinkette stared up at the familiar face of Tsunade's other half and nodded at Jiraiya with a smile. Never had she been so happy to see the old pervert!

"That's good… Now you get to safety while I teach this small fry how to handle women properly!" He grinned at Sakura and reached for the weapon at his waist while he charged forward at Mizuki.

The pinkette quickly got to her feet and ran away from the battle. She watched as the two men exchanged blows and how their blades glinted in the rays of sun that made its way through the sakura trees. More petals floated down and Sakura thought as if it looked like some sort of dance of death.

Her thoughts were cut short as the sound of metal clashing against metal met her ears and she saw one the blades fly through the air and collapse onto the pink floor.

There was a grunt and suddenly everything went still. The petals continued to float down to the ground and Sakura hesitantly looked up.

"Hime, good thing I got here in time"

Jiraiya stood over Mizuki's unmoving form with a slight grimace as he gripped onto his own side which was a deep crimson colour.

"Jiraiya-san?"

"Ne, I'm not as young as I was Sakura-hime. Now come, let's go home. Tsunade-hime was worried about you"

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Sakura sighed as she finished tending to her wounds and she leaned back onto her very own futon. It had been days since she had been at the geisha house and she was happy to be home.

Her gaze wandered to the lone wooden wind chime that was outside her room and she smiled as its soft music met her ears.

As her eyes began to close, her shoji door slid open and a blue kimono clad Ino walked in. The blonde had a smile on her face as she lumped herself next to her best friend.

"Hey there Forehead! I missed yoooou" she said in a sing-song tone.

Sakura opened an eye and grinned at her best friend. "Hey there Pig. I missed you too"

Ino leaned on one arm and stared the pinkette down. "Tsunade-sama said you got a bit banged up on the way here. You okay?"

Sakura sighed and nodded. "It's nothing serious, although the shoulder wound may take a while to heal…"

Ino pouted and looked outside at the swaying wind chime. "Anyway, did anything interesting happen while you were at Tanzaku? OOH! Did you save anyone's life?"

The pinkette grinned at the blonde and nodded. "I have so much to tell you Pig! Well, yes I saved two lives – a young boy who happened to crush on me and…"

"And?"

"Samurai-san."

Ino's mouth formed a perfect 'o' and her baby blue eyes widened. "Samurai-san?! You lucky bitc-"

"Ino!"

"Well you are lucky! Anyway, did you see him shirtless? Did you kiss him? Details woman!"

Sakura blushed and swatted the blonde away. "Shoo, don't you have customers to deal with?"

Ino rolled her eyes. "It's been really quiet in the last week. Come on Sakura, tell meeee"

"Yes, I saw him shirtless-"

"EEH!"

"Multiple times actually-"

"KAMI!"

"… Ino. Can you not interrupt me?"

"Gomenasai Forehead but I'm expressing my joy for you!"

"… Anyway. I only saw him shirtless because I changed his bandages, other than that he didn't wear a shirt over his bandages… Uhm, no I did not kiss him!" The pinkette blushed at this as she fiddled with the sleeve of her kimono and pouted. "My last night there, I had too much of sake… And we were questioning each other about random things… and it was really nice. It was different from this Ino… from the life of a geisha. It was so relaxed, so carefree! It wasn't as if I had to flirt and entertain… And Samurai-san is actually really sweet Ino-chan! He's down to earth even though he seems so serious, but that's just a façade! He's so different from the past customers…"

Ino smiled as she watched her best friend continue to ramble on.

"-and he has the weirdest favourite food ever – cabbage. I mean who would like drool over cabbage? And would you know-"

"Oh my Kami. You like him!"

Sakura blushed a shade deeper and glared at the blonde. "I-I do not! I don't even know his name!"

"I am never wrong dear. I knew TenTen had a thing for Neji before she even knew and look, they ran off together."

"Are you saying I'm going to run off with Samurai-san?"

"Never know, it seems like your type of thing. Seeing as you call him 'Samurai-san'" Ino winked at Sakura and continued. "Next time you see him, call him 'Samurai-sama' and let's see what he does!"

"Kyaaa…"

"He may just take you to his bed there and then."

"… You spend too much of time with Jiraiya-san. And anyway, Samurai-san and I have already slept in the same bed."

"… hah?"

Sakura covered a hand over her mouth and flushed a deep red.

Ino however, had eyes as wide as saucers and she jumped on her best friend, not caring about Sakura's wounds. "YOU WHAT?!"

The pinkette shook Ino off and glared at her. "No sympathy for the wounded…" she muttered as she adjusted her kimono. "We just slept in the same bed, Pig. We didn't do anything… Although…"

"Although…?"

"I may have spooned against him but that's for me to know and him to find out."

Ino didn't know whether to feel disappointed or amused at her best friends news. Instead of saying something, the blonde smiled brightly.

"…What?"

"Nothing Forehead"

"For Kami's sake! I hate it when people say that! Just tell me why you're smiling like that!"

Ino giggled as she stood up and began to walk out of the room. "All I'm saying is… my instinct is NEVER wrong Forehead. It never has and never will be."

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**A/N:**** Yet again, a big thank you to everyone who has read this chapter and to those who reviewed the previous. As always, your reviews and PM's make me smile :) **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I don't own!**

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It was when the moon began to wax that Tsunade looked outside and saw two familiar figures approaching her establishment. The busty blonde gathered up the front of her kimono and waddled to the shoji door to slide it open. With a deep bow, she lifted her face ever so slightly and flashed her guests her pearly white teeth.

"Minasama, konbawa!"

The two guests smiled at Tsunade and greeted her as well.

Tsunade straightened herself and ushered the men inside, not missing the parcel in one of their hands.

"It's about time you showed up Uchiha-san," she said as she slid the door closed. "For the week that Sakura has returned for, she hasn't stopped talking about you and she's been moping about how long it has been-"

"Tsunade-sama!"

All figures in the room turned around to see Sakura all geared up in her geisha attire. The geisha had a pout set to her lips and if you looked close enough, there was a light pink to her dolled up face.

"I resent that comment!" she exclaimed while crossing her arms over her chest. "Anyway, long time no see! Naruto-san, Samurai-san," she said as she bowed to each of the men.

"Maa, gomen Sakura-chan! We had to wait a while until Samurai-san here was fit and ready to travel," said Naruto as he motioned to Itachi who stood beside him, clutching a package behind his back.

Sakura's eyes lit up and she scurried over to the long haired samurai. Lifting up a hand, she placed it against his forehead. "How are you?! Are you all healed up? No traces of poison? No bleeding? No fevers? No-"

Itachi chuckled at the pinkette and poked her forehead with his index and middle finger. "Sakura-san, I am perfectly well."

Rubbing her forehead, Sakura pouted and mock glared at the samurai. "…Just concerned for your health…"

Itachi offered her a miniscule smile before Sakura's eyes lit up again.

"Where are Konohamaru, Sasuke-san and Kakashi-san?"

"Kakashi and Sasuke are escorting Konohamaru back to the Capital. He has an uncle there who will now have to take care of him."

Sakura's lips formed a tiny 'o' and she stared at the ground.

"Anyway, how may we entertain you fine men tonight?" asked Tsunade as she noticed the room freeze up with a slight tension. "Want me to go call Hinata-chan for you Naruto-kun?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his blonde locks and grinned.

Tsunade laughed as she walked towards the girls' quarters. "…I'll take that as a yes"

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Itachi had suggested that Sakura and himself spend the night on the porch of Sakura's 'room' that overlooked the garden in the middle of the geisha house. It was a spectacular night – one with a sky of scattered stars.

"I have something for you."

Sakura, who was kneeling next to the samurai and staring at the sky, turned her head to face the man, only to come face to face with a medium sized, thin wooden box.

She blinked once before taking it into her small hands. "May I open it now?"

"If you wish"

The pinkette gently raised the lid off the box and let it fall to the ground beside her when she saw what was inside.

"H-how?"

Her shaking fingers picked up the contents and she stared at her present with wide eyes.

It was the kimono she wanted from Tanzaku! It was a sleek, black kimono with silver trimmings and an intricate red flower pattern that swirled over the fabric. The reason why she had not bought it was because it was so expensive… Probably worth a month or two of performing if she had frequent customers!

"Samurai-san I can't accept this…"

The samurai stared at the geisha. "Well you are going to."

A half-smile pulled at Sakura's lips and she gently folded the material back into its packaging. Once it was inside, she placed the box next to her and turned to face the samurai again. "Arigatou, Samurai-sama"

Itachi's eyes widened, if only for a fraction, as he felt her arms wrap around his middle. He stared at the pink head against his chest and smiled. And as soon as it came, it was gone, and Itachi was left staring at where she was just a split second ago.

Sakura had retreated to lean against the wooden door frame, strategically facing the other way so Itachi wouldn't and couldn't see her face. She felt her heart hammer against her chest and her cheeks flared up.

'Calm yourself!'

The pinkette shut her eyes and exhaled.

The sound of footsteps against the old wooden floors met her ears and she slowly opened her eyes. The samurai stood to the side of her with a smug look on his face.

"Shall we go inside now? It's getting cold"

Before she could reply or move, she felt a ghost of lips against her cheek which was soon replaced by the cold night air.

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Just a few rooms away, a certain blonde and a lavender eyed beauty sat, staring at the sliver of a moon and sea of stars.

Naruto had tried to make Hinata smile, but she did not. He had tried so many times, but he would not give up. He faced the geisha and noticed her staring at the moon quite intently.

"I know I might not be able to express it… B-but looking at the stars makes me happy." She lifted up a single hand and 'ran' it over the sky above her. "I… I had a troubled childhood. And sometimes I wonder if it would have turned out better if my mother hadn't passed on… Today is her eleven years."

The blonde stayed quiet and let her continue. He knew of her past, but she didn't know that. It was best if he heard it from her in any case.

"I remember when I was about seven or eight, just after my mother's passing, my grandmother would often take care of me because of… reasons... She told me that your loved ones become stars. They're always there above you - watching you, guiding you, h-helping you when you feel sucked in by the darkness. That's why I-I love staring into the night sky, I know my mother and grandmother are there watching over me."

By now, Hinata's eyes had glistened over and she was quivering. She hesitantly looked over to Naruto and pressed her two index fingers close together.

Naruto's blue eyes softened and he did the only thing that he could think of – he pulled her fragile form against his chest and rubbed her back as he felt her sob.

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Three months had passed since Sakura had last seen the long haired samurai.

On the last night that she saw him, they had gone back into the room and he asked her for a cup of chamomile tea, as if nothing had transpired outside. Afterwards, she had played her shamisen for him and before she knew it, the sun was rising and he needed to leave.

For the first few days she could still feel the ghost of lips against her cheek. It felt as if everywhere that she looked she could see him standing there. It felt as if his eyes were always on her and he'd be giving her _that_ smug look. However, where ever she looked, she would see empty spaces and no smouldering looks against her back. He was never there.

She would expect him every night, but he never came back.

Soon, days turned into weeks, and weeks into months.

And soon, she began to slip into her normal routine of being a geisha. Her more realistic self kicked in and she found herself being drawn into performing again. She had no time to think about him. Or his smug looks. Or the kiss.

The pinkette sighed and pulled on a long blade of grass from alongside her body. She lay in the garden of the geisha house and watched as the clouds moved by overhead.

It was only midday which meant customers would only start arriving in another six or so hours and she had nothing to do until then. Which ultimately meant her brain would flutter back to three months ago.

Sakura let of a growl and fisted a whole patch of grass out of the ground.

"Gracious! Forehead is that anyway for a geisha to be acting?"

The pinkette stared up to the silhouette of her best friend leaning over her, and for a split second, her brain registered the long hair to be someone else.

"Ino-chan, I'm going insane!"

"You were normal to begin with?"

Sakura glared at the blonde and threw the mixture of mud and grass at Ino as she settled onto the soft grass beside the pinkette.

Ino sighed as she dodged to the side and smiled at Sakura. "Come now child, tell Ino-chan your problems"

"I miss the bloody fool."

Ino blinked. "Pardon me what?"

"I miss the bloody fool! I mean you don't just kiss someone on the cheek and disappear off the face of the Earth!"

Ino drew her lips into a straight line and stared at her friend. "… He did what? Where was I when this happened?"

Sakura pouted at Ino. "Probably listening to one of those smutty stories from Jiraiya-sama… It was three months ago Pig! Three! I'm bloody tired of waiting and I swear if he's messing with me-"

"Sakura… He's a samurai. Remember that. I'm not being negative or anything, I'm being realistic. He has a dangerous and busy way of living. He can't spend his time going to geisha houses you know."

"But-"

"I'm not done. You've been moping around for a while now. You've been moody. Look, I know you miss him and stuff, but you have a job to do okay. You have your life and he has his." Ino offered her friend a smile. "I know it's hard not to think of him when you're so attached, but the less you think of him, the faster time will fly and who knows? He may pop up."

Sakura had opted to pull at another blade of grass.

Ino bumped Sakura's shoulder playfully and rolled her eyes. "This isn't the Forehead I know! Come on! Tell you what; let's go to the market for a while. I haven't gone shopping with you in ages! What do you say?"

Sakura smiled at Ino and nodded. "Why not"

"I'll get your stuff for you, you go tell Tsunade-sama okay?"

The pinkette nodded and watched as her best friend got up and headed off towards their quarters. Sighing, she followed suit and headed towards Tsunade's room.

Seeing as she wore no shoes, she padded lightly against the wooden floors. As she was about to slide Tsunade's door open, she heard voices from within.

"_So you're saying that there have been riots within the Capital?"_

"_Mm hmm. Tsunade-hime, it's something about survivors from raids increasing in numbers and trying to get the Daimyo to do something about the attacks. It looks like they're finally tired of him in power."_

"_So is the Daimyo responding to the riots?"_

"_No, he always ends up calling his guards to break it up apparently. While I was there last month I noticed something quite interesting."_

"_Oh?"_

There was a pause and Sakura sauntered up the side of the shoji door to try and hide herself better.

"… _There are hardly any samurai in the Capital. Back in the day when Minato and I used to go to the Capital to delegate, there would be samurai just about everywhere. They'd be at the main gates, patrolling the streets, outside some shops… Now they seemed to have decreased in numbers… Something quite strange is going on there."_

Sakura heard Tsunade exhale and pour something, followed by Jiraiya's soft 'thank you'.

"_What's even worse Hime, is that on the way back here, I passed quite a scene in the middle of the forest. There were a few dead samurai and bandits on the path. And I don't think those samurai were under the Daimyo's power."_

"_Jiraiya, how sure are you of that?"_

"_They were not wearing the usual samurai garb."_

Sakura's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with a shaking palm.

"_Anyway! Enough of the morbid outside world stories! How about you and me-"_

"_Go away you old pervert."_

"_You don't even know what I was going to say!"_

"_I know you well enough Jiraiya, and the answer will always be NO."_

The rest fell short on Sakura's ears. She slid down to the wooden floor, hand still covering her mouth. She shut her eyes tightly and tried to think positive thoughts.

'He's alive! He's perfectly fine! He's probably…' The pinkette bit down on her lip as a lone tear slipped out and rolled down her cheek.

"Forehead?"

Sakura felt someone kneel in front of her and two warm arms pull her closer.

"Oh Kami Sakura…"

Sakura opened her eyes to see Ino giving her a sympathetic look. Her baby blue eyes softened. "Maybe we'll leave our little outing for today. It looks like someone needs a little tender loving care."

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Later that evening, Ino had been requested in the geisha house.

A highly emotional and stressed Sakura sat on her futon with Hinata. The ex-Hyuuga didn't quite know what to say to the pinkette. She had tried to cheer her up but Sakura would have none of it. She had tried to reassure the pinkette but Sakura would look the other way and sulk.

Hinata understood why Sakura was acting like this. She had heard of the happenings concerning the samurai deaths… but…

"Sakura-chan… If I may ask, why are you so… you know."

Sakura sighed and half smiled at her friend. "I… I'm attached to him I suppose. I think seeing him on the verge of death and knowing that his life was in my hands sparked something within me. I began to care too much you know, I began to worry. It was if he wasn't just a customer or a patient anymore. He was a friend. And he was very different from my friends here at the geisha house…"

Hinata nodded at the pinkette. "So you're trying to say you may have developed feelings for him along the way?"

The pinkettes eyes widened and she snapped her gaze to her dark haired friend. She slowly looked back down at her lap and sighed. "… I shouldn't deny it. I wouldn't get this worried over just a friend…"

Hinata saw a smile pull at Sakura's lips and she inwardly smiled.

Sakura looked up and her friend and grinned. "Speaking of developing feelings, has a certain blue eyed, spiky blonde wormed his way into your heart yet?"

Sakura noticed Hinata blink multiple times and then avert her gaze elsewhere. She knew that if she could, Hinata would have been a bright red at that comment.

"I'll take that as a yes," the pinkette giggled as Hinata looked over her shoulder and glared.

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Sakura faced the next day with a positive attitude.

As she went about her usual duties she repeated a string of words in her head:

'No selfish thoughts today. He is not avoiding you. He is a samurai – a busy man fighting for our country. He is perfectly well. He is a strong and capable man. He is fine. He is fine. He is FINE.'

It was soon evening, and the incense burning in the entrance room filtered throughout the hallways of the geisha house. Sakura kneeled in front of Hinata who was plaiting her hair.

"Forehead, there's a strange big built man here requesting for you," came Ino's voice as she popped her head into the room.

Sakura blinked at this and Hinata quickly finished up her friends hair and tied it up.

"Good luck," said Hinata as Sakura got to her feet and smoothened out her pale pink kimono.

The pinkette looked over her shoulder and nodded before heading out to the entrance room.

Soon she slid open the door and sulked at the sight. In the entrance hall, was a buff, slightly beaten up man who seemed to be studying a small blade which he twirled in his large hands.

"Konbawa…" she whispered.

The man lifted his head and grinned at her. His eyes roamed her from head to toe and he let out a gruff laugh. "Even better than I imagined"

Sakura held her grimace in and grit out a smile. "Care to follow me?"

The man nodded and jumped to his feet. He followed Sakura down the passage and it felt as if he was breathing right down her neck.

The pinkette stopped at her room and ushered him inside. Once he was in, she slid the door closed and smiled.

"So sir, what might your name be?"

The man turned around and flashed her a grin. "Call me Fuma-kun"

"Fuma-kun," purred Sakura," please, sit down. Make yourself at home."

She gently urged the man down to the cushions around the low rise table and inwardly growled when he looked at her over his shoulder and smirked.

"And what does Fuma-kun do for a living? He has such broad, muscular shoulders." Sakura battered her eyelashes and put on a coy façade.

Fuma grinned and patted the space next to him for Sakura to sit down. "Why don't you sit next to me and I'll show you just what Fuma-kun does"

Sakura bit her lip and looked away. "I'm too shy a girl Fuma-kun!" She pouted and looked at him under long lashes. "May I bring you anything to drink?"

"Some sake please. And bring two cups, maybe that'll warm you up," he said with a wink.

The pinkette was quick to escape the room and let a sigh of relief out when she entered the room down the hallway where their drinks were stored. She grabbed a tray and poured a glass of sake for Fuma and one of water for herself.

Both were clear liquids, he'd never know it was water.

Smiling to herself, Sakura made herself back to the room and grimaced when she saw that Fuma had shrugged his yukata off his shoulders and was now shirtless.

"Just having you in the room makes me feel all hot," he said with a grin.

Sakura giggled as she sat on opposite side of the table and placed his sake before him.

"Where did you put your yukata?" she asked when she noticed it was not alongside him.

Fuma downed the contents and pointed to the corner. "…On that strange looking thing over there."

The pinkette just about had a seizure when she saw his yukata haphazardly tossed about on her shamisen. She slowly exhaled and got up and moved to her poor instrument.

"How sweet of you Pinky. But it's okay, you can leave my yukata there."

"Uwaah, I wouldn't want it to get all creased," she grit out as she folded the material and placed it on the ground.

As she walked towards the cushions, she noticed that Fuma had a terrible looking infected gash across his chest.

"Fuma-kun, are you alright? That wound looks serious"

Fuma shrugged. "This little scratch doesn't really hurt. How about you go bring me another glass of sake and I'll tell you the story?"

Sakura nodded and headed off to bring the bottle back with her. As she returned, Fuma began talking.

"I'm a… fighter see. I came across a lone little samurai a few days ago."

At this, Sakura's ears pricked up and she blinked. "Oh? And how did the little guy look?"

"Extremely skinny and small built. He had long hair and strange looking eyes that were the most intimidating I've ever seen… Anyway, he was all bruised and bleeding and tried to take ME out! Can you believe it?"

By now, Sakura's heart rate had tripled. She was clutching the tray in her hands and staring at Fuma, urging him to go on.

'This means samurai-sama is alive!'

"He put up a pretty good fight. But in the end I was victorious! Snapped him in half like the little twig he was I did! If it wasn't for his blonde friend who appeared, I would've killed the little weakling!"

By now Sakura was seeing red. She knew this Fuma character was most probably a bandit and this story probably wasn't all the truth… That Fuma probably attacked Samurai-sama while he was wounded…

"If only I had succeeded in killing him! Would've made me and my friends lives a lot easier! Pesky little-"

Fuma's sentence was cut short.

Sakura stormed forward, tray and sake bottle in hand, and swung it downwards onto the bandits head.

The sound of glass shattering was heard and Sakura stares downwards at the scene.

Shaking with rage, Sakura gathered up the front of her kimono and stormed out of the geisha house and into the crisp night.

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Meanwhile…

The generally busy streets of the Capital were deserted. The only sounds that could be heard were the occasional chirping of crickets and the 'tak tak tak' of footsteps against the cold gravel street.

A feint glow could be seen coming from the Daimyo's office and the guests to the Capital smiled and made their way there.

Soon, they slid open the shoji door to the Daimyo's office and cleared their throats.

The Daimyo lifted his head from his desk and dropped the coins he was counting.

"Uwaah… ah!" The Daimyo rose to his feet and stared wide eyed at the two men who stood grinning before him.

"Daimyo-sama, good evening," Greeted one of the men as his red eyes leisurely roamed around the Daimyo's office.

"Ma-Madara-sama! Tobi-sama! What are you doing here?!"

Tobi stepped forward and picked up one of the coins on the Daimyo's desk. He flicked it into the air and let it fall down onto the wooden desk. "We have decided to pay you a little visit…"

"See, I'm not sure if you remember, but quite a while back, we made an agreement. Do you recall?"

The Daimyo gulped and moved closer to the wall of his office. His office had a hole in the wall that lead outside… If he could just get there he could call for help…

"The agreement was that we give you the title of being Daimyo… In exchange that you would keep this chair warm for me," said Madara as he eyed the Daimyo. "However… I don't recall telling you to mindlessly throw the best samurai out."

The Daimyo observed Madara and then looked through the space in the wall and into the darkness.

"See, I remember telling you that you let us build up a force. You would let me defeat the most faithful samurai. The rest were to remain. We'd stage an attack on the Capital, and you run free with all the profits you have made. Then I would claim the title of Daimyo for myself. We'd have an army big enough to challenge the other nations. Sound familiar?"

Tobi smirked as the Daimyo's eyes darted from Madara to the sky outside.

"So why is it that ALL of the samurai have been deployed? Because of that, my men had to eliminate them…"

The Daimyo ran his tongue over his lips and looked to the streets below.

"You're ruining my plans Daimyo-sama. And well, I have one thing to say to you for that."

A grin flashed over Madara's face as the Daimyo was about to scream for help. Tobi however, was too fast. He had vaulted over the desk and managed to shove the man through the hole in the wall.

Madara shot his head out and watched as the Daimyo's face turned into one of shock as he plummeted to the ground below.

"Goodbye."

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**A/N: I'm back!**

**I'm so sorry for the two month delay O_O and I attempted to make this extra-long to make it up to you guys (: **

**Tell me how it was :D **


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